How to Produce a Concert Tour: The Complete Planning Guide

Start With the Numbers

A tour needs to make money. Before you think about stage design or setlists, figure out the business case. Where does the artist actually draw? Look at streaming data by market, social media engagement, past ticket sales, promoter interest. A tour that loses money on every date does not get a second run.

Build a budget that covers everything: artist fees, crew, transport, flights, hotels, equipment, venues, insurance, marketing. Add 15-20% for things that will go wrong, because something always does. Most tours aim for 20-30% margin after costs, but that number moves depending on scale and the artist's career stage.

Route It Smart

Routing is a puzzle. You want to minimize travel between shows, avoid backtracking across countries, and put the biggest markets on weekends. Schedule rest days after long jumps. Do not start the tour in your biggest market. Start somewhere smaller, let the production settle, get the show tight, then hit the big rooms.

Check local calendars. Do not book the same weekend as a major festival in that city. Do not book holidays when people travel. These seem obvious but we see it happen all the time.

Pick the Right Rooms

Better to sell out a 2,000 capacity venue than half-fill a 5,000 one. A packed room with energy is worth more than a big room with empty sections. Be realistic about the artist's draw in each market.

Get technical specs from every venue early: stage dimensions, rigging capacity, power, load-in access, dressing rooms, house PA. You need all of this before you can finalize the production design.

Design a Show That Travels

Your production needs to work in every room on the tour. A show that only looks good in one specific venue is useless. Build a core design, lighting, video, staging, that scales up and down while keeping its identity.

Decide what travels with you and what you rent locally. Custom LED content, specific fixtures, backline instruments: these travel. Generic trussing, basic lights, PA: rent locally. Less truck space, less cost.

Your Crew Is Everything

At minimum: tour manager, production manager, sound engineer, lighting designer, stage manager. Bigger shows add video operators, riggers, wardrobe. Fill in with local crew at each venue for load-in and load-out.

Always have backup plans. Flights get delayed, buses break down, gear fails. It happens on literally every tour. The question is whether your team can handle it without the audience ever knowing.

Sell Tickets

Announce dates strategically. Either all at once for maximum impact or in waves to keep momentum going. Work with local promoters who know their markets. Watch the sales numbers and be ready to adjust. If a market is slow, push more marketing. If it sells out fast, consider adding a second date.