The DIY Musician’s Complete Guide to Touring
Over the years, CD Baby’s DIY Musician Blog has posted a thing or two about touring. Here are our favorite touring tips, bits of advice, and shared wisdom, organized below by category, and compiled as The DIY Musician’s Complete Guide to Touring. Whether you hit the road for 3 months at a time or only gig regionally, there is something here for you. Click the individual links to read each corresponding article and learn how to book better gigs, play better shows, travel cheaper, sell more merch, and stay healthy while you’re away from home.
Touring Strategy
How to Book Your Band So You’ll Sell Out Every Show: Why Smaller Venues Are Your Best Friends
How to Tour as an Indie: Strategies for Booking, Promoting, and Thriving on the Road
7 Tips on How to Transition from Open Mics to Longer Gigs
5 Tips to Filling an Out-of-Town Music Club with Fans
Make Your Own DIY Venue for One Night: Get Creative with Your Performances Spaces
How to Design Your Ideal Performance Venue in 4 Steps
Booking Basics: the 5-Pointed Star Technique
How to Defeat Your 4 Touring Enemies: Lack of Time, Lack of Money, Gas Prices, & Geography!
New bands, you might not be ready to tour
Play In-Studios and In-Store Performances to Maximize Your Promotional Punch
How to Gig-Swap So You’ll Play to Packed Rooms When You Travel Out-of-Town
A Booking Strategy That Works: Make Sure You’re a Good Fit
10 Things Bands Can Do to Book More Live Shows
Gig Swapping Made Easy with SplitGigs.com
Double Your Gig Possibilities and Earn More Money by Preparing a Stripped-Down/Acoustic Set
Top 3 Articles about Busking: the musical art of street performance
Outside-the-Box Busking Tips: An Interview with Headwater
Count it All: The Actual, Hard Costs of Touring
Gig Details
How to Make a Stage-Plot/Input List for Your Next Show
Is Your Live Show Any Good? : 2 Performance Tune-Ups with Tom Jackson
How to Properly Advance Your Next Show
Cover Charge Considerations: How Much Should Your Show Cost?
5 Tips to Selling More Merch at Shows
How to Act like a Professional at Soundcheck
F@&%$#!!! What to Do When You Make a Mistake on Stage
Musical Approach
Keep your old songs from going stale so that every show can feel inspired
Why you should give an empty room an equally energetic performance
The pros of playing cover songs at gigs
The cons of playing cover songs at gigs
50 Reasons People Might Not Be Coming to Your Shows
3 Ways to Smooth Over an On-Stage Mistake
Why visual presentation matters to your live show
The Most Important Rule of Live Performances When You’re Playing a Festival, Conference, or Showcase
Why You Should Spend A Lot of Time and Thought on Your Live Show
Travel Advice
Ditch the Van: Alternate Modes of Transportation
Bandago: Affordable Van Rental for Touring Bands
5 Tips for Better Health and Travel While Touring
5 Cheap or Free Ways to Sleep Comfortably on the Road
Go by Train, Plane, Bike, or Foot
Tour Promotion
How to Make an Effective Band/Artist One-Sheet for Tour Press and Radio Promotion
Using Social Media on the Road to Engage Your Fans While Touring
Using Instagram to Promote Your Music
Consigning Albums at Record Stores in Towns You Tour Through
How to Create Digital Gig Posters on Your iPad or iPhone
How to Use QR Codes on Your Concert Posters
Why You Should Document All of Your Live Shows
