How much does it cost to produce a twelve-date tour in Spain?

Between €38,000 and €52,000 in production costs, not counting the artist fee. The range depends mostly on how many days off sit between shows: each dead day costs around €600 in per diems and hotels while generating no income.

How much of a touring budget goes to transport?

Between 22 and 28 per cent on a national tour with a van and trailer, including fuel, tolls, insurance and wear. On tours covering more than 4,000 kilometres, it goes above 30 per cent.

Why is the fee not what the artist earns?

The fee has to cover the agency commission, production, crew, transport, accommodation and withholding tax. On a mid-size venue tour, the artist ends up with between 25 and 40 per cent of the gross fee.

How much does live music make in Spain?

€807.2 million in ticket sales during 2025, according to the Anuario de la Música en Vivo published by the promoters' association APM. That is 11.24 per cent up on the €725.6 million of 2024, the fourth consecutive year of growth and an all-time record.

Which Spanish regions concentrate live music?

Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia together hold 63 per cent of the market. Madrid took €237.2 million in 2025, 29.4 per cent of the national total, growing 27.95 per cent. Catalonia reached €163.2 million, 20.2 per cent, up 17.8 per cent. Andalusia took €108.7 million, 13.5 per cent, and was the only one of the three to fall, by 6.4 per cent.

What were the biggest tours in Spain in 2025?

The three national tours with most attendance were Joaquín Sabina's «Hola y Adiós» with 383,633 people across 41 shows, all sold out; Manuel Carrasco's «Tour Salvaje» with 367,256 across 31; and Antonio Orozco's «La Gira de Mi Vida» with 170,378 across 32. Among international artists, Ed Sheeran drew 137,884 people in just two concerts.

Which Spanish festivals had the most attendance in 2025?

Arenal Sound with 300,000 attendees, Primavera Sound Barcelona with 297,000 — over 30,000 more than its previous edition — and Viña Rock with 240,000. Among cycle festivals, the largest was Icónica Santalucía Sevilla Fest, selling 276,601 tickets across 28 dates.

How much do you pay SGAE for a concert in Spain?

8.5 per cent of the box office income of each concert, with VAT deducted first, according to SGAE's 2026 General Tariff Book. In venues with an authorised capacity of 1,000 or fewer, the organiser may instead opt for a flat rate calculated from capacity and average ticket price.

Who pays the author's rights on a concert, the artist or the promoter?

The organiser of the show, normally the promoter or the venue. It is not paid by the artist and is not deducted from their fee — though in a box office split it usually appears among the approved expenses deducted before the artist's percentage is calculated.

What happens if a promoter does not declare concert takings to SGAE?

The 2026 tariffs state that where the organiser does not supply the takings information, the general tariff is applied to the full legally authorised capacity of the venue at the average price of tickets put on sale. In other words it settles as if the show had sold out, regardless of what actually sold.

What is the difference between SGAE and AGEDI-AIE at a concert?

SGAE manages the rights of songwriters and publishers, and is what gets paid for the concert itself. AGEDI and AIE represent phonogram producers and performers and collect for public communication of phonograms — the recorded music playing in the room: the set before the band comes on, the music between acts, the bar.

Are there discounts on SGAE concert tariffs?

Yes, and they stack. Five per cent for filing the declaration of works used, and a further 10 per cent where capacity is up to 1,000. They have to be requested: they are not applied automatically.

Why does a concert ticket cost more than the advertised price?

Because the platform's booking fee is added on top of the base price — 8 to 15 per cent in Spain — plus 21 per cent VAT on that fee, and sometimes an extra delivery or issuing charge. A ticket advertised at €25 ends up charged between €29 and €32.

Who keeps the booking fee on a concert ticket?

The ticketing platform, not the artist and usually not the promoter. Some contracts include a rebate of part of the fee to the promoter, but the artist is paid on the base price: booking fees do not enter the fee calculation or the box office percentage.

How much does a ticketing platform take per ticket?

Between 8 and 15 per cent of the base price in the Spanish market, depending on the promoter's volume and whether the deal is exclusive. Large promoters negotiate below 8; a small promoter with a single date pays the rate card.

Is there VAT on concert tickets in Spain?

Yes. Live performance is taxed at the reduced 10 per cent rate and it is already inside the advertised price. Booking fees are a separate service taxed at 21 per cent, added on top. That is why the final markup is always higher than the advertised commission rate.

What is an artist's fee in live music?

What the promoter pays the artist to perform, before agency commission, production, transport and withholding tax come out. It is not what the artist takes home: on a mid-size club tour they end up with 25 to 40 per cent of the gross fee.

What is the difference between the advance and the deposit on tour?

They are unrelated, though they get confused constantly. The deposit is money: the part of the fee paid up front, usually 50 per cent on signing. The advance is not a payment at all — it is the round of confirmation between the artist's production and the venue in the days before, settling schedule, power, stage, backline and catering.

What is backline at a concert?

The instruments and amplification that sit behind the band on stage: guitar and bass amps, drums, keyboards and their stands. It can be carried by the artist or supplied by the venue, and who provides what is settled in the advance.

What does per head mean in tour merchandising?

Merch sales divided by the number of people who came through the door. It is the only figure that lets you compare different nights and decide how much stock to carry. In a mid-size Spanish venue it runs €2 to €6 depending on genre.

What is a concert settlement?

The closing of accounts at the end of the night: tickets counted, the promoter's approved expenses checked, and the artist's share signed off. When the contract was properly closed it takes fifteen minutes; when it was not, it is an hour of argument at one in the morning.

What is a radius clause in a festival contract?

A territorial exclusivity clause preventing the artist from playing within a geographic radius and a window around the festival, typically 150 to 300 kilometres and 60 to 90 days before and after. It is one of the most argued points in the negotiation, because it can affect an artist's entire national tour.

What are the ways a live music fee can be structured?

Three. A flat guarantee, where the promoter pays a fixed amount whatever happens. A percentage, where the artist takes a share of net box office, typically 60 to 80 per cent after expenses. And guarantee versus percentage, the most common structure in mid-size venues, where the artist receives whichever is higher.

What is the break-even point on a concert?

The box office figure at which the promoter covers every cost: fee, venue hire, production, staff, marketing and rights. Below it they lose money. In a thousand-capacity room in Spain it usually sits between 55 and 70 per cent of capacity, depending on how much was spent on promotion.

Who carries the risk when a show sells badly?

It depends on the structure. With a flat guarantee the promoter carries all of it: the fee is paid even if two hundred tickets sell. With a straight percentage the artist carries it. Guarantee versus percentage splits the difference — the promoter covers the floor, the artist shares in the ceiling.

Which expenses are deducted before the artist's percentage is calculated?

The promoter's approved expenses, agreed in writing before the show: venue hire, technical production, staff, security, advertising, rights society fees and ticketing commission. If that list is not closed in the contract, new items appear on settlement night.

How is a festival line-up decided?

From the top down. Headliners are closed first and consume 40 to 60 per cent of the artist budget, and only then is the remainder spread across the rest of the bill. That is why a festival can announce two names in November and the full line-up in March: until the headline fees are settled, nobody knows what is left.

What is a radius clause at a festival?

A clause preventing the artist from playing within a geographic radius and a period around the festival: typically 150 to 300 kilometres, and 60 to 90 days before and after. It exists so the festival is not competing with the same artist's own show nearby, and it is one of the most argued points in the negotiation.

What does billing order mean on a festival poster?

It is the artist's contractual position, and it is written into the contract: who appears first, on which line, and at what type size relative to the others. It is not graphic design, it is a negotiated term, and breaching it can entitle the artist to compensation.

How much of a festival budget goes on artists?

Between 40 and 55 per cent of the total budget for a mid-size festival in Spain, and headliners take 40 to 60 per cent of that. The rest goes to production, build, staff, security, permits and marketing.

How long is a show day for the crew?

Ten to fourteen hours in a mid-size venue. It starts with load-in between nine and eleven in the morning and ends with load-out, which rarely finishes before two. The show itself takes 75 to 110 minutes of that day.

What is the advance on a concert?

The round of confirmation between the artist's production and the venue in the days before: schedule, power, stage dimensions, available backline, catering, parking and named contacts. A proper advance is what separates a calm day from one where you discover at eleven in the morning that the van does not fit.

How long does it take to build a club show?

Three to five hours from load-in to sound, for a mid-size production carrying its own backline. A venue with a loading dock and a lift takes an hour off; two flights of stairs add two.

Why do concerts run late?

Almost never because of the artist. The three usual causes are a load-in slower than planned (hard access, no local hands), catering arriving late and pushing soundcheck back, and a doors time announced to the public before anyone knew how long the build takes in that specific room.

What margin does merchandising make on tour?

Between 55 and 70 per cent gross margin on the sale price. A t-shirt selling at €25 costs €7 to €10 to produce, leaving €15 to €18 before commissions. That is far above the box office, where the artist keeps 25 to 40 per cent of the gross fee.

How much does a venue take from merch sales?

Between 10 and 25 per cent of gross sales in Spain, depending on the venue and the artist's leverage. Some venues charge only when their own staff sell; others charge regardless of who sells, and that difference is agreed in writing before the show.

How much merch sells per head at a concert?

Between €2 and €6 per attendee at a mid-size Spanish venue — what the industry calls per head. It varies hugely by genre and audience age: a rock or metal show clears €6 easily, while electronic shows often stay under €1.

Is merch worth carrying on a small tour?

Almost always, because the margin is high and the marginal cost of carrying it is low: there is already a van and there are already people. The constraint is not margin but working capital, since stock is paid for before the first date and recovered across the whole run.

Backline · The business of live music

A tour van and trailer parked at night on a narrow street, rear doors open, two crew members carrying flight cases towards a venue's lit doorway. — A tour van carries five people and a quarter of the budget.

Numbers

What it actually costs to move a tour across Spain

Twelve shows, five people and a van. The numbers nobody publishes, and why the fee is never the money you take home.

Backline · 29 July 2026 · 7 min read

A full concert hall seen from the mixing desk: the audience in shadow, facing away, and the lit stage in the distance. — €807.2 million in box office in 2025. A fourth consecutive record year.

Numbers

Live music in Spain, in official figures

€807 million at the box office, a fourth straight record year, and three regions taking 63 % of it. The audited 2025 data, read by someone who works inside it.

29 July 2026 · 7 min

A venue box office seen from inside at the end of the night: a desk lamp, a metal cash box with notes and coins, ticket stubs on a spike and a rubber stamp. — The 8.5 % comes from here: from the box office, net of VAT, and the organiser pays it.

Craft

The rights you pay on a concert in Spain

8.5 % of the box office, who pays it, and what happens if you do not declare. What the official tariffs actually say.

28 July 2026 · 7 min

The queue outside a venue at night, a hand holding a paper ticket in the foreground and a door supervisor silhouetted against the warm light inside. — The audience believes it is paying thirty-one euros to the band. The band is paid on twenty-five.

Numbers

Why a €25 ticket costs you €31

Booking fees, VAT and commissions. Who keeps each of the six euros that appear between the advertised price and the one you pay.

27 July 2026 · 6 min

A tour day sheet on a production desk, covered in handwritten notes and highlighter marks, next to a walkie-talkie, gaffer tape and Allen keys. — Almost none of these words appear in a dictionary, and all of them get used daily.

Craft

The live music glossary

Forty words used daily on tour that appear in no dictionary. What they actually mean, not what they look like.

26 July 2026 · 9 min

Two people going over a printed contract on a wooden desk, with a calculator, a coffee and ring binders beside them, next to a window. — Almost everything argued about on show night was settled weeks earlier, at a desk like this one.

Craft

How a fee gets negotiated, and who ends up holding the risk

Guarantee, percentage, or both. Behind every formula there is a bet on how many people will show up — and someone who loses it.

24 July 2026 · 6 min

A festival poster pasted on a peeling city wall, shot at a sharp angle at dusk, one corner lifting and older posters showing underneath. — The poster is the one festival document everybody sees, which is why it is the most negotiated.

Craft

How a festival line-up actually gets built

Headliners, billing order and radius clauses. A poster is not a list of favourites: it is a budget set in type.

22 July 2026 · 7 min

The empty floor of a venue during load-in: stacked flight cases, coiled cables on the ground, an open step ladder and one person walking out through the loading door. — By eleven in the morning the room already knows how the night will go.

On the road

A show day, hour by hour

From the moment the van parks to the moment the desk goes dark. Twelve hours that usually go fine, and the three things that bend them.

18 July 2026 · 8 min

A merch table at the end of a show: folded t-shirts in stacks, vinyl, a card reader and an open metal cash box with notes, the crowd leaving in the background. — At four euros per head across twelve 700-capacity rooms, that is €33,600 gross.

Numbers

Merch: the margin that saves the tour

A €25 t-shirt nets more than plenty of box office nights. And the venue takes a cut almost nobody checks before signing.

14 July 2026 · 6 min