The following is by 1/2 of the band Pomplamoose and Patreon co-founder, Jack Conte.
Pomplamoose recently wrapped up an ambitious 28-day tour, performing 24 shows across 23 cities in the United States. It was an incredible experience filled with highlights: Nataly crowd surfing for the first time, nearly $100,000 in ticket sales, and connecting with fans we adore for an entire month. The San Francisco show at the Fillmore, where we sold 1129 tickets, is a night I’ll never forget.
During the tour, a recurring question from fans was, “What does it feel like to have ‘made it’ as a band?” While understandable for a band with over a hundred million YouTube views, the idea of Pomplamoose having “made it” feels distant and frankly, inaccurate.
Before delving further, it’s crucial to emphasize how incredibly fortunate Nataly and I feel to make music for a living. Pursuing music as a career is a dream realized. However, the phrase “made it” doesn’t quite capture the reality of Pomplamoose. Pomplamoose is actively “making it.” Every day involves hard work and dedication to continue “making it,” and we are far from feeling like we’ve definitively “made it.”
Running an Indie Band: A Rewarding, Scary, and Low-Margin Venture
Being in an indie band is akin to managing a small business – one that’s perpetually in motion, filled with both rewards and anxieties, and often operating on thin margins.
The planning and execution of our Fall tour required months of preparation, gradually accumulating risk and financial commitments before a single ticket was sold. We needed to secure lighting equipment, book hotel accommodations, rent a van, assemble a crew, acquire road cases for our instruments, rent a trailer, and much more.
All of this demanded an upfront financial investment from Nataly and me. Unlike bands with label support, we financed these initial expenses ourselves, directly on our personal credit cards. To be precise, we accumulated $17,000 on one card and $7,000 on another. Our hope was to recoup these costs through ticket sales.
We also factored in the weekly salaries for our band and crew while on the road. Each week, covering salaries for four musicians and two crew members (a front-of-house engineer and tour manager) amounted to $8794. Over the course of the tour, this totaled $43,974.
Nataly and I developed the tour budget ourselves, projecting revenue against anticipated expenses. Neither of us had formal experience in financial modeling, so we did our best to create a realistic plan. However, with projected expenses reaching six figures, “our best” didn’t exactly inspire overwhelming confidence.
The Total Cost: $147,802 to Produce and Execute the Tour
So, where did all these expenses originate? Let’s break down the costs:
Expenses
$26,450
Production costs encompassing equipment rentals, lighting, lighting board, van rental, trailer rental, road cases, and backline equipment.
$17,589
Accommodation and food expenses. This covered double occupancy rooms, four rooms per night at mid-range hotels like Best Western, for 28 tour nights plus a week of rehearsals.
$11,816
Transportation expenses including gas, airfare, and parking tolls. Parking a 42-foot van, surprisingly, proved to be a significant expense.
$5,445
Insurance coverage, primarily to protect against unforeseen incidents, even the unlikely event of a crowd surfing mishap.
$48,094
Salaries and per diems for the band and crew. Per diems were set at $20 per day for each member to cover food while on tour, functioning as a structured petty cash system.
$21,945
Merchandise manufacturing, publicity efforts (including a radio ad in San Francisco, Facebook ads, and venue-specific advertising), supplies, and shipping costs.
$16,463
Commissions paid to our booking agency, High Road Touring, for their essential work in organizing the four-week tour – a truly demanding task for which they were more than deserving of their fee. Our business management also received a commission for handling payroll, managing our finances, and generating the detailed report that formed the basis of this financial analysis. Notably, our lawyer, Kia Kamran, generously declined his commission recognizing the financial pressures of the tour.
Fortunately, Pomplamoose generated revenue that offset a portion of these expenses. Let’s examine the tour income:
Income
$97,519
Our share of ticket sales. To our incredible fans, your support is the reason we can tour. Literally, 72% of our tour income came directly from your ticket purchases. Thank you!
$29,714
Merchandise sales, including hats, t-shirts, CDs, and posters, accounted for 22% of our tour income.
$8,750
Sponsorship from Lenovo. We are immensely grateful for Lenovo’s support! They provided laptops to run our light show and a significant financial contribution. We publicly thanked them on stage for their crucial support of indie music. While some might view brand partnerships as “selling out,” this perspective often comes from hobby musicians or those who don’t rely on music for their livelihood, or from already wealthy and famous artists. For an indie band striving to make a living, a tour sponsor is a welcome source of financial stability, offering a beacon of hope in a challenging financial landscape.
The Bottom Line
Adding up the income, we generated $135,983 in total revenue for the tour, against $147,802 in expenses.
A Loss of $11,819
Ultimately, the tour resulted in a financial loss of $11,819. However, this isn’t a lament. We were aware it would be a costly undertaking and consciously chose to invest in the experience. We could have opted for a duo performance to significantly reduce expenses by over $50,000, but at this stage in Pomplamoose’s journey, presenting a full-scale, high-energy rock show was a priority. Our aim was to impress venues and leave a lasting impression on fans, encouraging repeat invitations and increased attendance in the future. The financial loss was viewed as a strategic investment in future tours and long-term growth.
Pomplamoose remains financially stable. Our Patreon community contributes $6,326 per video, and we generate approximately $5,000 per month from online music sales through platforms like iTunes and Loudr. After covering all band expenses, including the costs of professional music video production, Nataly and I each draw a monthly salary of around $2,500 from Pomplamoose. Remaining funds are reinvested into the band or saved to mitigate the need for accumulating debt when planning future tours.
In 2014, Nataly and I dedicated ourselves fully to Pomplamoose, often working seven days a week. Releasing two professionally produced music videos monthly is more than a full-time job. Additionally, Nataly personally managed the tour logistics, alongside recording and releasing a full-length album. Our music video shoots frequently extended from 9 am to 2 am – a typical, not exceptional, workday.
Sharing these detailed financial figures is not intended to discourage aspiring professional musicians. It’s intended to provide transparency and shed light on the evolving landscape for professional artistry.
The Evolving Landscape: Bridging the Gap for Creative Professionals
We are witnessing a significant shift in the music industry. The traditional dichotomy between the “starving artist” and “rich and famous” is becoming less defined, with a growing space for sustainable creative careers.
YouTube has onboarded over a million partners – creators who monetize their content through advertising. The “creative class” is not just emerging; it’s already here and thriving.
This creative class is discovering pathways to earn a living through diverse artistic pursuits: music, webcomics, writing, game development, podcasts, and more. While many of us may not be household names or grace magazine covers, we are building sustainable careers. We are not rich, and we are not famous in the traditional sense.
We represent the “mom and pop” equivalent of “the dream.” If Lady Gaga embodies the McDonald’s of the music industry, we are more like Betty’s Diner – open 24/7, serving a dedicated community.
We haven’t “made it” in the conventional sense. We’re actively “making it” work, every day.
+ Why Pomplamoose Made The Right Decision To Go On A Losing Tour
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