The job of a Tour Manager is to make sure that life on the road runs smoothly for everyone involved. This means getting the band safely to venues and hotels, managing money coming in and money going out, and dealing with Promoters, Ticket Service Directors and Venue Managers.

Tour Manager David Norman says that his “day consists of moving the artist and the band from city to city. Along with my Travel Agent, Tour Coordinator, Tour Bus Driver, Tour Publicist, booking flights, ground, hotels, etc. Doing day sheets (info on what your day will be like including departure times, showtimes, soundcheck times, travel after the show, etc.)”

Tour Managers also work with Band Directors, Travel Agents, Band Members, Sound and Lighting Techs, Instrument Techs (Guitar Technicians, etc.), Sound Engineers, Tour Bus Drivers, Tour Coordinators, Production Managers, Tour Accountants, Advance Person, Festival Directors and the Road Crew.

On average, Tour Managers earn approximately $54,300 annually. The average salary range for Tour Managers runs from $46,000 to $71,000.

Tour Managers are paid week-by-week, and payment varies based on the tour budget, the length of the tour, the stature of the band, etc. Usually, a Tour Manager gets a base salary, plus expenses (meals, for example), and sometimes a per diem for incidental expenses that come up on the road.

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Tour Managers have a lot of responsibility, and not a lot of days off. Norman says, “I generally work at least 8 – 9 months out of the year. I’m a workaholic and need projects to keep me motivated.”

The best way to advance in this career is to have a handle on several different aspects of touring so that you can work in varying capacities. Norman says that “when I was coming up, my mentor advised me to learn EVERYTHING about touring, so I did. I can tour manage, production manage, [do] tour accounting, Promoter Rep, etc. Learning all of these different things will make your phone ring with more jobs over being just one dimensional.

“For example, this year I was the Tour Manager/Tour Accountant for John Legend (finished in February after 5 ½ years touring with him). Then I filled in as Tour Manager for a one-off date for Aaron Neville and then was Tour Director for the Brit Floyd tour and then Production Manager for Prince.

“In two weeks, I’ll go out as Tour Accountant for Avicii (filling in for a friend) and then I go out with One Direction as Promoter Rep August – October.” Advancement also comes from experience and building connections; most Tour Managers start with smaller, lesser-known bands before hitting the road with Grammy-winning, millionaire Rock Stars.

Like so many music industry careers, networking and word-of-mouth recommendations are the best way to get a job as a Tour Manager. Many Tour Managers start off by working with a friend’s band or in another music industry career.

UK-based Tour Manager Bob Slayer says, “There are so many ways to get into a career in music but like any creative field most of them involve working for next to nothing for quite a while, this is because a lot of people want to follow this path, so if you won’t work for nothing there are plenty of other people who will and they will get the breaks.

“If you have some aptitude for what you do then there comes a time where the experience and knowledge you have picked up working endless free or low paid hours begin to make you a scarcer, more valuable commodity.

“Back in 2002/2003, I was trying to get into music journalism. I was reviewing bands for a bunch of fanzines and just starting to get the odd bit of work from magazines. I interviewed a band by email – Electric Eel Shock, a Japanese band who were touring America at the time.

One of the questions I asked them was “Do you have any plans to come to the UK?” and this was the only one they answered! ‘You get gig; we come.’ And so I did.

“A few weeks later they came and stopped on my floor and did a few gigs around London. They blew a few people away and were asked to support a couple of larger bands.

The band then, impressed with what I had set up, invited me to go back to [the] USA with them and to SXSW. There I set up an interview with MTV for them and managed to get the head Booker from Roskilde Festival in Denmark to come see them live.

“She immediately booked them to headline a stage… This sealed it and they asked me to be their Manager. This I did for the next 6 years solid as well as tour managing and also acting as Agent in some territories.

I still work with them and just set up a European tour with them. Working and touring with Electric Eel Shock led to working with a number of other artists such as The Bloodhound Gang, Public Enemy, MC Devvo, etc.”

• Start at the bottom. Get experience in different facets of the live music industry.
• Network. Get the word out that you’re available to work as a Tour Manager.
• Be willing to work for free or very little.
• Brush up your budgeting skills.
• Stay responsible and don’t get sucked into partying! You’re the one who needs to see that everyone gets to the next location safely and on time.

Norman, like many Tour Managers, started off as a musician himself. This experience gave him an understanding of what tour life was like, and what band members would need from their Tour Manager. He also has experience as a recording studio Sound Engineer and Mixer.

After working with the S.O.S. Band on an album, they asked him to come along on tour with them as a Front-of-House Engineer and Tour Manager. In general, Tour Managers have experience in one or more music industry careers before heading out with a band. Skill-wise, they must be able to handle finances, stay on schedule and handle all kinds of people with varying temperaments.

Working as Tour Manager isn’t for everybody. Norman says this is a good career for “someone who’s patient, is proactive instead of reactive and is a forward-thinker and can multitask!”

”Learn everything you can,” Norman says. “Read everything you can and above all, find a mentor to help guide you. College would be great to learn people and life skills.” Although higher education isn’t a requirement, an understanding of finance and budgeting is.

Want to become a tour manager with zero experience? Good news: you can start locally and build your way up. This is a step-by-step path from your first volunteer show to your first paid tour manager gigs. Do the steps in order, keep your communication tight, and treat every run like a job interview. Touring is a trust business.

1. Get yourself into live shows, even if you start as a runner. Tour managers come from the live world, not from vibes. Offer to help at an all-ages venue, school event, church show, local festival, or DIY space. Ask for “runner” or “stagehand” style tasks: check-in, errands, helping bands load in, counting merch. Your goal is to learn the flow of a show and become the person who stays calm when something changes.
   
   
2. Learn the tour manager basics: day sheets, contact lists, and advancing. Download a few sample tour itineraries and build your own template. A tour manager lives in details: addresses, parking notes, load-in times, set times, curfews, hotel info, and who to call when the door is locked. Practice writing a simple advance email to a venue that confirms the schedule, payment plan, and hospitality. If you can’t explain the day in one clean page, fix it.
   
   
3. Practice building realistic schedules with buffer time. Newbies plan like robots. Pros plan like pessimists. Map drives, add time for food, traffic, and “the drummer disappeared.” Put every hard time on a calendar: depart, arrival, soundcheck, doors, set, load-out, hotel check-in. Then add buffers so the band isn’t sprinting all day. If your schedule works for the slowest person in the group, it works.
   
   
4. Get comfortable with money and receipts early. You don’t need to be a CPA, but you do need to be trusted with cash. Start tracking expenses for small gigs: gas, parking, tolls, meals, supplies. Keep receipts, use a simple spreadsheet, and reconcile after each show. Learn what a settlement is and how guarantees, percentages, and per diems usually work. A local band will pay you faster if you save them from surprise costs.
   
   
5. Tour with a local act in any role, then quietly take on more responsibility. Offer to drive, sell merch, or assist for a weekend run (2 to 5 shows). While you’re there, watch how communication works between the band, venue, and promoter. Keep notes on what went wrong and how it got fixed. After a couple runs, ask to handle one piece: the itinerary, hotel booking, or advancing. That’s how you slide into tour manager work without making it weird.
   
   
6. Run your first “mini-tour” as the tour manager for a band you already know. Start with something you can control: a one-weekend loop or a short regional run. You handle transportation planning, lodging, day sheets, and show advancing. Build a tour book folder with every confirmation, contact number, and address. Do a daily check-in with the band so nobody is surprised. When you finish on time and under budget, you have proof you can do the job.
   
   
7. Build a simple tour manager résumé and a reputation kit. Make a one-page PDF with your name, role, city, and a short list of shows or runs you helped with. Add two references from real humans (venue manager, promoter, bandleader). Create a clean email pitch you can send fast when someone asks, “Do you know a tour manager?” Keep it professional, even if the tour is scrappy. Touring is small, and people remember.
   
   
8. Start charging for local tour manager gigs with clear terms. When bands start playing out of town regularly, they need help. Pitch acts that are busy but not huge: openers, regional headliners, artists doing weekend runs. Offer a clear deal for a trial run: your fee, what it covers, and what expenses are reimbursed. Put it in writing. A tour manager gets paid for preventing chaos, so don’t be shy about charging once you’re competent.
   
   
9. Level up by getting referred and becoming the default choice. After each run, do a quick post-tour wrap: what worked, what didn’t, and what you’d change next time. Ask for a short testimonial you can use, and ask who else is hiring. Stay in touch with promoters and venue staff who liked working with you. Most tour manager work comes from referrals, so your goal is to be the person people text first when they need help.

There are no unions for Tour Managers, although UK-based Tour Manager Bob Slayer recommends the Music Managers Forum for those interested in artist management.

This site has some useful insight into the business of being a Tour Manager.