Incomes can vary widely in this field.
"You can get $500 a week on up to $10,000 a week, depending on how long
the tour is, who the artist is, what genre of music it is and where the band
is at in their career -- that is, how popular they are," says road manager
David Norman.
"You negotiate your own contract, but the standard is some sort of a hotel
room, whether it's single or shared, plus some sort of weekly salary," says
road manager Gordy Gale. "You also get what they call a per diem, or a per
day expense, which covers laundry, food, and taxis."
There are opportunities if you're prepared. "Anyone can have a good future
in it, especially if you're really organized, efficient and like to network,"
says Norman. "Anyone who doesn't like to do those things is going to have
a hard time."
"There's always a need for people who can organize everything and do a
good job," says road manager Ben Richardson. "I'd say there's a scarcity of
road managers because it's such a time-consuming gig and not a lot of people
want to take that on. The people that do are usually pretty level-headed people
who don't mind working really hard."
Earnings and employment information from the U.S. Department of Labor is
not available for this field at this time.