Artists Make $8 in Profit From a $100 Concert Ticket

A few years ago, after my band opened for a musician who was significantly bigger than we were, the venue manager showed us the total revenue for that night’s show while paying us out. I’m not going to say the figure—I don’t remember it precisely, to be honest—but it was enough to briefly take me aback. The headliner had a loyal audience and years of acclaimed albums under their belt, but they were decidedly not a pop star; just a musician who’d managed to eke out a career. But when I saw the number I thought: Damn, they’re raking it in. 

Then I thought about their tour bus and the driver who’d been hired to drive it, the trailer full of gear, the three musicians in the backing band, the guitar tech, the sound engineer that traveled with them—not to mention the venue itself, staffed with bartenders, ticket-takers, stagehands. All those people, I hoped, were earning a living wage. Then there was the venue owner, who would expect to turn their own profit on the night, and whatever other entities were involved in the ticketing and promotion, which would take their cuts as well. Plus the booking agent who put together the tour on the artist’s side, whose payment would come directly out of their take, to the tune of about 10 percent. The list goes on. It did not take long to realize that, though this artist might be making the decent living they deserve for their work, they probably aren’t rich. (Still, I couldn’t help but feel like they could have afforded to throw us a couple more bucks.)

This scene came to mind again after the National Independent Talent Organization, a trade group representing indie talent representatives like managers and agents, published an infographic detailing the breakdown of payouts for an average $100 concert ticket, based on expense sheets shared with them by a host of working musicians. Of that $100, the artist is likely to take home a potential $8.