CRS Wrap Up: The Art Of Touring With Chris Young

Young speaking at CRS 2022 (Photo: Courtesy of CRB/CRS | Kayla Schoen)

AEG PRESENTS Dir./Artist Development & Global Touring SHELBY MORAN sat down with RCA NASHVILLE’s CHRIS YOUNG, AEG PRESENTS VP ALLEN ANDERS, WME Partner NATE TOWNE and THE AMG Pres./CEO and YOUNG’s manager, ROB BECKHAM, FRIDAY afternoon (2/25) at COUNTRY RADIO SEMINAR in NASHVILLE to give attendees a glimpse into their world, and discuss the ins and outs of the touring industry.

ANDERS began the conversation with the business side of things, showing the audience the anatomy of a ticket with a breakdown of where the revenue sits, along with the obstacles that come into play. It’s a simple problem, with a not-so-simple solution: the secondary market (brokers/resellers) are making significantly more than the artist when it comes to tickets, and the touring industry is still trying to find a way to successfully combat that.

YOUNG, MORAN, TOWNE and BECKHAM then joined him onstage, where YOUNG was asked to reflect on his relationship with radio and promoters, and how it has evolved to what it is today. He emphasized the importance of making those genuine relationships with radio early, and how that has a direct impact on touring success. In a society dominated by 15-second clips, he added, it’s important for artists to make a connection with radio, that will then make a connection with their listeners.

He explained that he can physically feel the difference in the markets that spin his records regularly versus the ones that do so less frequently, emphasizing the need to be strategic about how to bring listeners and fans into shows in markets where he isn't played as much, whether it be with extra promotion work or deciding to play a smaller, more intimate venue.

TOWNE shared the importance of strategy, and being able to take a step back and decide to be an opener, or play a club or something on a smaller scale, and then perfecting that and connecting with those fan bases before shooting straight for a headlining tour. Every artist can be white hot for a little bit, but not forever, he said, adding that as you can see momentum building up with the records and audience, and the clubs, theaters and smaller shows sell out, then it’s smarter to move up. In essence, it’s all about strategy. It's also important to know which strategy to use for which market, because fans and listeners are different everywhere.

He also explained the differences between a hard ticket and soft ticket, and how the strategies are different with each. A hard ticket being that specific artist's show, with their name on the physical ticket, as opposed to a festival in which the artist is not responsible for the entire experience, and is on a lineup with others.

The idea from the management standpoint is to be able to create a fan base and a connection with listeners so that they will still be there when the artist doesn't have songs on the charts.

YOUNG then gave the audience his perspective on COVID-19's impact on the touring business. He said that one of the first shows he had, returning to the road, was a socially distanced show at a baseball field, with squares where each attendee had to stand in order to be distanced. He explained that the energy from the crowd was noticeably different, since most of the time people want to go to live shows to "forget about the real world" and have a good time for a few hours, and they aren't able to have that same experience standing in a square.

All five explained how concerts now have numerous moving targets that were not previously a concern, including having enough trucks, drivers and busses, and being able to keep staff on payroll during the pandemic. Another issue that is often overlooked is that of scan counting, which is the amount of ticket buyers that actually attended the show after buying. The panelists explained that scan count drop-offs were anywhere from 15-30% decreased. This can be due to multiple things, but largely has to do with rescheduling show dates, people's emails changing, people not being able to attend a new show date, people relocating and more. For future shows, fans are now hesitant to spend money on tickets if they know the show has the potential of being canceled, like so many have been in the past two years.

As the world reopens, TOWNE explained, fans are coming back, but he said it's important to remember that there are tons of other things happening in the world besides COVID, and fans have to make a decision to pay for a ticket as opposed to using money for necessities like gas or utilities.

The speakers also brought up that the number of live shows being put on this year is going to be increased due to the artists that have blown up during the pandemic, so it will be important for venues, labels, artists, management, partners and all parties involved in touring to work together strategically to package a show that fans will want to see the most and will stand out to them when they are deciding whose show they are going to spend money on.

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