One of the most visited posts on the site is something I posted almost two years ago titled "It Seems Bands Don't Make Money Off Touring Either" highlighting how even a band who is successfully touring is still losing out on money. Today, another perfect example of this predicament is Goatwhore. By metal standards, Goatwhore is a successful "working class" band. They are no Metallica or Slayer, but they have a name out there, get booked on tours (including a major one this summer) and are signed to a big metal label, and yet the band is still broke and is asking for fans help getting a new efficient van.
Goatwhore have set up a Chipin account to help pay for a new fuel-efficient van. They posted the following message on the site:
We are embarking on a 7 week long national tour later this summer that will take us all over the United States and parts of Canada. While some people may think that being active in the music business and going on tour may be financially prosperous, that is not always the case. Our goal is to be able to rent a new and different touringvehicle for this upcoming tour. Our usual mode of transportation is a 15-passenger van which gets roughly 9 mpg pulling our loaded trailer. This new vehicle will be much more comfortable and take some of the stress of the road off of us. More importantly, it gets upwards of 20 mpg pulling a loaded trailer. This will account for considerable fuel savings as well as a reduction in emissions due to the vehicles clean burning ultra low sulphur diesel engine. We are inviting fans to chipin to our cause to be able to feasibly rent this vehicle from mid-July to late August.
If you have some spare change, help 'em out. Being in a band is not profitable. You have to be willing to sacrifice your livelihood to maintain this lifestyle. This is one of the many reasons so many musicians decide to leave the business, even if their band is getting killer tours, and good sales, because ultimately…they are making less money than if they would bother getting a job at Best Buy. The music business = no fun!
