New York, NY (November 25, 2025)—I recently came across a job post listed on a popular website that caters to the touring industry. It advertised an entry-level position as tour manager/driver for a five-week tour consisting of 25 shows and 10 days off. TM would be doing most of the driving, with the artist willing to help when possible. Lodging was included (though not specified if it was shared or individual rooms), per diem was not. The salary: $500 per week.
I found this upsetting. Let’s do a bit of math here.
Based upon my tenure performing tour manager/FOH duties, I figure that “a day” is a minimum of 12 hours. Honestly, I’d be happy if a workday on the road were 12 hours or less, but we’ll use that for illustration purposes. And let’s suppose that there are two days “off” per week—which is immaterial because in my opinion, if you’re not at home, you’re working.
Plus, I’ve seen more than my share of “easy travel days” turn into 14-hour, stuck-at-the-airport or driving-way-too-many-miles nightmares. If we divide that $500 salary across five workdays (which it isn’t), that’s a little more than eight dollars an hour. Split that across seven days and it’s around six bucks per hour. Yikes! How is someone supposed to live on that?
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If someone offered me that “salary,” I’d certainly pass, yet here it is in black and white, masquerading as a touring opportunity for a “young gun.” Truth is, McDonald’s is offering a better wage, and a 12-hour day flipping burgers is likely to yield at least twice the amount of money as this amazing opportunity to TM. And you can sleep in your own bed. I don’t think it’s out of line to call that kind of offer an insult.
The real issue here is that some hungry young gun will be tempted to take that gig and allow themselves to be abused for five weeks. It might be because they’re desperate for a gig, or that they’re romancing the idea of being on tour with a famous (or soon-to-be-famous) artist. Or it could be that they’re in need of experience, a load of which they would certainly gain when taking such a gig.
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It’s easy for me to look at this offer and say that it’s unacceptable because I’m blessed to be working on a level where my bills get paid and I have a few bucks left over for the occasional toy or (heaven forbid) a vacation that never seems to happen. But even when you’re starting out, you have to teach people how you expect to be treated, and working a 12-hour-plus day for a hundred bucks is not acceptable. If you don’t stand up for yourself, who will?
