To attempt to draw conclusions about the success and failures of our tour we have decided to analyze the data as a whole. To draw comparisons between the 3 segments we have decided to standardize all financial calculations to be represented in United States Dollars.
The exchange rates we used were those of December 2013 and are as follows:
$1.00 USD = €0.73 EUR
$1.00 USD = $1.06 CAD
OFFICIAL BREAKDOWN
TOTAL INCOME: $10, 508
TOTAL EXPENSES: $10, 718
USA income: $4305
Days on tour: 69
number of shows played: 59
per show income: $72.96
USA expenses: $3399.50 (gas only)
Canada income: $1563
Days on tour: 21
number of shows played: 11
per show income: $142.09
Canada expenses: $1752
Europe income: $4850
Days on tour: 84
number of shows played: 31
per show income: $156.45
Europe expenses: $5357.21
According to these raw income and expenses, Ok Vancouver Ok managed to escape the 6 month tour with a debt of $210USD. We are happy to report that as of press time we have 'broken-even-and-beyond' on our latest vinyl record, Food Shelter Water. We have bought and sold 3 tour vehicles and seen 16 countries. The one major expense that has not been included in this report was our flights to and from Europe. Which amounted to just under $2000USD for two people. This means that realistically we have a debt of $2210USD for the best 6 months of our lives. ($210 debt from living on the road + $2000 for flights to and from Europe) A time where we didn't have to work soul sucking jobs or pay super-high-vancouver-rent. We each spent under 200$ per month out of our own pockets for the duration of our 6 month tour. We are putting this tour in the financial success column.
Just looking at the raw data you can see that for our tour the most financially successful shows occurred in Europe ( $156/ show) followed by Canada ( $142.09/ show) with the USA in last place ($72.96/show)
Another way to interpret the data is by shows played per week.
When you look at the length of each segment of the tour and the amount of shows we played to break even you can see the same pattern again: in Europe we played 2.5 shows a week ( 31 shows in 84 days), in Canada 3.6 shows a week (11 shows in 21 days), and in the USA we needed to play 6 shows a week (59 shows in 79 days). We had to work much harder in North America to be successful.
It is also important to note that the most financially accurate segment of our report is for Europe. Where we actually recorded EVERY COST. All the hostels and hotels, ferry boats, trains, the cost of buying the car and the insurance! everything! even parking tickets have been included in the breakdown.
When you look at the fact that we were able to almost break even with only 2.5 shows a week in Europe where the cost of gas, food and accommodations tends to be higher than the USA it raises questions as to why this success?
The success of Europe
Guarantees
Europe was the only segment of the tour where we had confirmed terms for each show, including monetary guarantees, tech riders that explained our gear needs, planned accommodations, free meals and drinks. Everything was very professional. From large theatre shows to anarchist trailer parks, we knew before we arrived what would be happening.
Organized Funding
Like North America, many of the shows we played cost no admission or were pay-what-you-can. However, this didn't impact the amount of money we received. Sometimes this was due to either government arts funding or independently funded arts programs or self fund-raising. In other words, most of the venues operated with a budget and were able to tell us how much they could afford to pay us. We were never expected to pay for free (unless at a fundraiser or benefit) and we never had to hope for a good turn out or large-donations.
View of DIY Music as a Job Rather Than a Hobby
Even in some of our lowest-budget more thrown together European shows there was still a feeling of gratitude from the attendants, organizers and other bands for our performance, both monetarily and emotionally. It was also known that the booker or promoter would receive a portion of the nights take and that there were often paid employees like sound technicians, security, servers and people to set-up and clean up. This meant that the responsibility for a successful night was shared by many. Taking the shows 'seriously' made for a lot of planning, hard work and organization. Which was augmented by being in a country or city that supported arts and cultures and a society that prioritized live music, art and was willing to spend some of their hard earned money on it.
This was in direct opposition to many of the sentiments of our North American Tour. Where many people didn't have the energy to throw us a good show because they were working 3 jobs to pay for rent and their own musical endeavours. Where many folks couldn't come out to our shows because they were either working, or had to work tomorrow. Where the government and it's liquor laws, tax allocation, noise restrictions and building codes prohibited many venues, collectives, bands and artists silenced and impoverished.
How does this financial report relate to your band ?
Well... it doesn't. There are lots of limitations to this report. I don't think that the data that we collected over the past 6 months will be very helpful to you except anecdotally. I'm sure our bands make different music and we are different people. We will tour different towns at different times and meet different people. That being said, I think there could be some universal truths present in this report! You can use our past shows page to get ideas for routes and places to play. you can email us if you have questions big or small. You can help folks have good shows in your town and you can remember to support touring and local bands. you can even start keeping your own statistics and publishing them ! The more DIY anti-capitalist pro-community tours we go on and share the better.
the end.
part 1: USA
part 2: CANADA
part 3: EUROPE
conclusions
The exchange rates we used were those of December 2013 and are as follows:
$1.00 USD = €0.73 EUR
$1.00 USD = $1.06 CAD
OFFICIAL BREAKDOWN
TOTAL INCOME: $10, 508
TOTAL EXPENSES: $10, 718
USA income: $4305
Days on tour: 69
number of shows played: 59
per show income: $72.96
USA expenses: $3399.50 (gas only)
Canada income: $1563
Days on tour: 21
number of shows played: 11
per show income: $142.09
Canada expenses: $1752
Europe income: $4850
Days on tour: 84
number of shows played: 31
per show income: $156.45
Europe expenses: $5357.21
According to these raw income and expenses, Ok Vancouver Ok managed to escape the 6 month tour with a debt of $210USD. We are happy to report that as of press time we have 'broken-even-and-beyond' on our latest vinyl record, Food Shelter Water. We have bought and sold 3 tour vehicles and seen 16 countries. The one major expense that has not been included in this report was our flights to and from Europe. Which amounted to just under $2000USD for two people. This means that realistically we have a debt of $2210USD for the best 6 months of our lives. ($210 debt from living on the road + $2000 for flights to and from Europe) A time where we didn't have to work soul sucking jobs or pay super-high-vancouver-rent. We each spent under 200$ per month out of our own pockets for the duration of our 6 month tour. We are putting this tour in the financial success column.
Just looking at the raw data you can see that for our tour the most financially successful shows occurred in Europe ( $156/ show) followed by Canada ( $142.09/ show) with the USA in last place ($72.96/show)
Another way to interpret the data is by shows played per week.
When you look at the length of each segment of the tour and the amount of shows we played to break even you can see the same pattern again: in Europe we played 2.5 shows a week ( 31 shows in 84 days), in Canada 3.6 shows a week (11 shows in 21 days), and in the USA we needed to play 6 shows a week (59 shows in 79 days). We had to work much harder in North America to be successful.
It is also important to note that the most financially accurate segment of our report is for Europe. Where we actually recorded EVERY COST. All the hostels and hotels, ferry boats, trains, the cost of buying the car and the insurance! everything! even parking tickets have been included in the breakdown.
When you look at the fact that we were able to almost break even with only 2.5 shows a week in Europe where the cost of gas, food and accommodations tends to be higher than the USA it raises questions as to why this success?
The success of Europe
Guarantees
Europe was the only segment of the tour where we had confirmed terms for each show, including monetary guarantees, tech riders that explained our gear needs, planned accommodations, free meals and drinks. Everything was very professional. From large theatre shows to anarchist trailer parks, we knew before we arrived what would be happening.
Organized Funding
Like North America, many of the shows we played cost no admission or were pay-what-you-can. However, this didn't impact the amount of money we received. Sometimes this was due to either government arts funding or independently funded arts programs or self fund-raising. In other words, most of the venues operated with a budget and were able to tell us how much they could afford to pay us. We were never expected to pay for free (unless at a fundraiser or benefit) and we never had to hope for a good turn out or large-donations.
View of DIY Music as a Job Rather Than a Hobby
Even in some of our lowest-budget more thrown together European shows there was still a feeling of gratitude from the attendants, organizers and other bands for our performance, both monetarily and emotionally. It was also known that the booker or promoter would receive a portion of the nights take and that there were often paid employees like sound technicians, security, servers and people to set-up and clean up. This meant that the responsibility for a successful night was shared by many. Taking the shows 'seriously' made for a lot of planning, hard work and organization. Which was augmented by being in a country or city that supported arts and cultures and a society that prioritized live music, art and was willing to spend some of their hard earned money on it.
This was in direct opposition to many of the sentiments of our North American Tour. Where many people didn't have the energy to throw us a good show because they were working 3 jobs to pay for rent and their own musical endeavours. Where many folks couldn't come out to our shows because they were either working, or had to work tomorrow. Where the government and it's liquor laws, tax allocation, noise restrictions and building codes prohibited many venues, collectives, bands and artists silenced and impoverished.
How does this financial report relate to your band ?
Well... it doesn't. There are lots of limitations to this report. I don't think that the data that we collected over the past 6 months will be very helpful to you except anecdotally. I'm sure our bands make different music and we are different people. We will tour different towns at different times and meet different people. That being said, I think there could be some universal truths present in this report! You can use our past shows page to get ideas for routes and places to play. you can email us if you have questions big or small. You can help folks have good shows in your town and you can remember to support touring and local bands. you can even start keeping your own statistics and publishing them ! The more DIY anti-capitalist pro-community tours we go on and share the better.
the end.
part 1: USA
part 2: CANADA
part 3: EUROPE
conclusions