National Tour Deals vs. Market-By-Market: What It Means for Production Teams (Production Live! Recap)

Communication is key in most forms of business, the live business and even more specifically the concert production business. However, communication — or getting an answer — isn’t always simple.

“The first thing I do is I ask either the artist or the manager is, ‘How much money do you want to spend?’” said Raphiki Rhodes, a production manager at HansTolo Enterprises.  He’s talking specifically about how to approach one-off shows that require production that differs from the rest of a concert tour, perhaps in a different-sized venue in a secondary or tertiary market.

It’s a tough job that requires a lot of creativity in executing an artist’s vision at a certain budget without sacrificing production value to the extent that artists or fans are left less than satisfied with the results.  “And I’m going to tell you right now, that is a question I never get answered. If they want to make money, then cool, I can do that. If they say, ‘I want my show in there,’ then what that means is it’s expensive.”

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Production Live!, the production industry-focused first-day event that leads into Pollstar Live!, kicked off Tuesday with an informative discussion about the production implications involved in national tours — cross-country or world tours booked by one promoter — or market-by-market tours booked as essentially one-offs. While the agents and promoters working out the routing and fine print surely have their own takes on the topic, this discussion was production-focused, which means, maybe predictably, communication is key.

“Obviously, tour deals are easier because you’re dealing with one company and that makes for easier flow-through in terms of communication,” said Nelly Neben, president of artist management firm Axis Management. “Market by market can be challenging because you’ve got to deal with individual venues, individual production managers, it’s all very different. Buildings are very different. Tech is very different. The biggest thing about really starting to book a tour is working with your agents from the very beginning and understanding your needs. It’s so important these days to look at the tech before you start confirming venues, to understand what your needs are going to be and if the deal makes sense for you, knowing what you might have to bring into that building.”

“Communication is overused terms sometimes, but our job from a production perspective is to make sure we have the information so we can disseminate that to everyone one,” added Elmer Straub, SVP, of Entertainment Production & Operations at Detroit-based 313 Presents, which operates six major venues in Motor City.  “For example, with the amphitheaters coming online, we’ll have maybe locally sourced sound at one of our boutiques, maybe someone’s traveling at another, and then you have another locally sourced at the Fox (Theatre), so it’s about us having consistency to support the production rep from a collaboration perspective.”

Regardless of the type of tour deal, venues need to be able to accommodate the production requirements, which means making sure everyone involved has the answers and information they need via tech pack and CAD renderings, with clear deadlines met and expectations set in advance to give everyone the best chance at success. 

Early and effective communication can lead to decisions on how much gear to carry on tour and which dates and venues may require additional labor or specific equipment to make the show happen.

However, there are often good reasons for not having that information yet. 

“I’m working on a tour next year in clubs and theaters, like 3,000 to 5,000 capacity, and the routing stretches into November of 2026,” says Erik Selz, a partner and agent at Arrival Artists. “First of all, holds are not great in November of 2026, but the artist hasn’t even finished the record, so there is no vision for what the show is going to look like yet. I told the manager, I’m going to build it in for 5K a night, you’re going to be carrying something. It’s guessing, and it’s kind of throwing a dart, but at least you’ve got something.”