My experience has been that the artists themselves get very little out of touring.

Also, typically 40% of all merchandise sales at the venue go to the venue.

I was the IT Manager at Nettwerk during Lilith Fair, and we were able to side-step that 40% by having people simply order and pay for their merch at the venues, but we wouldn't provide the items to them... we'd send their orders back to our mail-order department in Vancouver every night and have it filled and shipped out next day to them. They had the option of getting the merch right then and there at the venue, but with that 40% additional cost. 80% or so of the concert-goers opted to wait the extra 2-4 days for their order. (That loophole has since been "handled" by the venues.)

Most of my experience has been that the tours try to break even, with the understanding that it builds up the fan base, supports local radio stations (providing more local airtime), and general marketing.

Nettwerk manages Bare Naked Ladies, and I can tell you that they did not get rich off of their touring, but the results of their touring made them rich.

As a matter of fact, their touring schedule/etc was made up almost on the fly... the SoundScan data (sales in various areas) were analyzed daily, and where ever there was a "hot" selling area, the tour made their way there to "fan the flames". The end result was that the logistics of the tour were quite inefficient... it ended up costing more time/effort for the tour, but the results were HUGELY successful.

Just-in-time touring?

One of the famous stories of rock and roll was when Zeppelin sold out the Pontiac Silverdome in 77' and Peter Grant walked away from the show with $800,000 in cash (dont have the exact $ but it was something like that)...now Peter Grant was an excellent manager, but keep in mind that this was in 1977 dollars and was for 1 show.

I dont mean to be disagreeable, but that number seems to be very low. I doubt whether the Stones would tour at this age for that amount.

Some of the tour grosses that were mentioned previously here... no doubt that the bands get a huge chunk of this, even after the expenses.

In that recent Who special which aired on VH1... Pete Townshend was talking about the downfall of bassist John Entwistle and he said something like "we would get done after a tour and he would be handed a check for a couple of $million and then it would just be gone...I dont know what he did with it but he would just spend it."

also, in this day and age, I have heard of people such as Celine Dionne etc. getting paid over $1million to do private shows.

Yes, maybe, not talking: Three members divided on more Led Zeppelin concerts
The Associated PressPublished: December 5, 2007

LONDON: Jimmy Page hopes that Led Zeppelin's long-awaited reunion concert will lead to more. Maybe, says John Paul Jones. Robert Plant isn't talking.

Looking ahead to their London concert on Dec. 10, two members of the group spoke cautiously about further ventures in interviews with Q magazine.

"I must say that after our initial get-together it was so exhilarating and fun that I did feel I would like to do more," the magazine quoted Page as saying.

Jones said he had no idea whether more concerts would follow. "I guess the door has been left slightly ajar. We'll have to see how we feel about it afterwards," Jones said.

Plant has declined to do any publicity for the Led Zeppelin reunion, and is concentrating on other projects.

Led Zeppelin returns to stage after 19 years with London concert

"I would like to keep this moving," Page said. "I've got things I've been working on for the past four years that I'm proud of. Some of the songs I've got ready are as good as anything I've done in the past. I wouldn't necessarily save them for my solo career."

Hedging a bit, Page added: "I don't wanna play shows that aren't fun any more. I've gone back to my philosophy of the '70s, which was to enjoy myself."

Jones said the group had been offered "hundreds of millions of dollars" to tour North America, "but we've never got anywhere near accepting."

"Look, I don't turn money down, but I've never been tempted," Jones was quoted as saying. "I'm notoriously fickle like that. If I don't want to do something because I won't enjoy it, then I won't do it."

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I'm pretty sure that when it gets to the level of these huge legendary band tours, they get offered a flat fee in the 8-9 digits and it's up to the promoters to sink or swim. Band gets paid either way.

Actually, that's a pretty fair description. ;)

Jagger took over the finances when they formed their own label in 1971. He found out how broke they were. Jagger has always been a CHEAP SKATE...THe RS are basically a corporation where everybody is on salary. I imagine the 4 orginal members are the shareholders, with Jagger and Richards holding the majority of shares. I imagine that by now Ronnie Wood has a profit sharing agreement.

Last December at the show I saw, Jagger cut a verse on Sympathy to pick up 17 seconds to get back on time with the show. Thats how close the Stones work their shows.

Keith is the prime motivation for touring, its when he comes alive, and Jagger will follow. If Charlie quits touring its over, and Charlie has had some health issues.