Coordinating and staging a music concert tour can be an enormous task and timing is a critical factor that has to be taken into consideration. This is the case, as there are various factors that one has to consider when deciding on the right time to go on the road with an act. In doing so, artists and promoters can take a more strategic approach to attendance and revenue by considering seasonality, album cycles, and booking availability.
Perhaps the most crucial factor is the scheduling of the tour during the better months of the year that is during spring and summer. Besides, while many artists and bands can draw people in regardless of the weather, most of them perform better when the weather is favorable enough for fans to stand in lines and travel to the show. Scorching heat, cold,d or stormy weather can discourage people from attending a concertonn that particular day. Specifically, the regions that report high concert traffic include the northeastern United States and Canada and the peak concert traffic is observed during May through September.
Synchronization with album releases is also crucial. Albums, which are a collection of songs, tend to experience a spike in demand,d especially during a new drop. This way they can capitalize on the fan's interest and anticipation for the new songs by scheduling a tour around the week before or after dropping new records. However, you don’t want too much time between the album release and the start of the tour because some of the hype could die down. Ideally, it is between 8-12 weeks between the album street date and the first tour date.
The day of the week is also another factor that has to be considered when routing a tour. Weekend show is considered more popular for the given capability to attract more people. Concert tickets are most often bought on Fridays and Saturdays, whereas Sundays through Thursdays are comparatively slow only depending on the artist. Mainstream artists can perform several shows within the same city while new bands may only plan one weekend show per market.
Another aspect that needs to be considered when setting the concert dates is calendar factors. Traveling around weekends before holidays such as the Memorial Day weekend, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day are helpful. Not performing in major sporting events and big festivals are also ways the act isn’t playing can avoid market competition in that given market. Advertising expenses also include those for press runs, TV appearances, shows, awards, and any other form of promotion.
From the venue side, their event schedule will play a role in identifying potential routing dates. Facilities schedule numerous concerts, sports, family entertainment,t, and other performances many months or even years in advance. Pinning down the chosen dates for the tour revolves around avoiding conflicts with other events at suitable venues in the relevant markets. Some of the tours that have a stronger booking influence might push some of the previously planned events, while others may have to work around the venue schedules.
Professional touring artists tend to develop a proper touring circle and cycle that is good for re-routing efficient tours over and over. Studying the history of the frequency with which an act performs in targeted major markets helps promoters to establish optimal return periods. Some bands tour LA every time an album is released, while there are bands that sell albums by visiting particular major cities, every two or three albums. It is essential to determine which touring zones are profitable and how often they are visited.
The fledgling acts on their first national treks tend to be more mobile because they have not built up their touring resumes. There can be some geographical constraints regarding the geographical locations they already have fans to tap into, but much less about when they will be coming back to the markets. Headlining veterans, on the other hand, may choose the more conservative approach to touring strategies.
Even young artists, a lot of computations go into arriving at that where-to-tour sweet spot regardless of their years of practice. Booking agents scrutinize the calendars of the dens populated with tentative holds whereas managers and promoters look at the historical tour data, the feasibility of routing, and the timing of promotions. Building consensus is needed to know when it is the right time to hit the road with a show. However, if everything falls into place, bands get their opportunity to make concert memories for the fans.
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