My question is as follows

Do you think (lets take some of the most well known bands) had they toured less, do you think they could have written better songs instead?

I am trying to understand if all that effort to tour takes away or boosts new material

Thanks

 

Depends on the band? Some pissed their musical futures away while on tour by getting drunk, fucked up on drugs or by committing crimes. Others ruined their health, limiting their ability to create and perform complex music. Some are long past their prime and only exist to tour their old material. Others need to tour to make money in order to create more/new music. Some can afford to stay at home but decline to improve, idly waiting for that divine spark to hit them, instead of learning how to improve their music. Some get frustrated by their lack of progress and start YouTube channels instead. Etc, etc, etc

 

nope all tourign does is empty ya bank account and ruin ya finainces and prob turns out to be a waste of time and effort problem is music as a means of makign money is no more everyones doign it no one cares no ones listenign and no one is gonna go to ya gigs unless you drop lucky say ya know somone who needs a filler band or a festival and needs bands for filler acts but chances are its gonna cost you more money then ya ever gonna make and the entire thign will be stressful a waste of ya time and effort and by end of ya tour ya may well quit music all together best just staying home and work on ya projects not risk ruin and burn out by tourign cause ya not gonna make any money and most of time prob playign to 10 people if y lucky and it costs you more then youd think and in end was it worth it and the answer to that in big neon lights ya can see from space NO and stay home dont waste ya time or money by tourign unless liek i say ya lucky

 

Take the band "Deine Lakaien," for example: they spend two years in the studio and then two years touring. As you can see, most of it is simply hard work, though touring is certainly fun because you get to interact directly with people (your fans).

Everyone just does what they can!

 

yeah and who was payign for the "tour" see thats the problem with it all costs money and unless ya got a huge bank account or a label that carries the can then it will just rinser all ya money when ya playign to an empty house and i gotta love how people put the fun elelmnt into somethign that is hardwork financially ruinign and just a waste of energy unless liek i said ya drop lucky or have a bottonless bank account or label that picks up the tab

 

there are many good albums that were mostly written, and tested for audiences, while the artists or band were on tour. Lookup a list of them. The question is looking for a generalization for an answer, but it is really all over the map because people are all different.

 

and kids this is why stay off the internet and avoid other basement dwellers' advice, cuz if you did you'd never see the sun lol

"practicality" has never been part of the arts, so trying to attribute it selectively doesn't work

 

yeah it all takes money mate or does the clap ya hands method still work and a PA drops out of the sky and the local mice turn into roadies and a pumpkin changes into a van with unlimited petrol and has an apartment built into it with a fridge that magically makes beer and food forever and all ya bills and the venues are magically all paid for and fully booked and every nights a sell out and ya make millions but in reality none of that happens and prob gonna cost you a lot lot lot more than ya ever gonna make even if ya went on tour for rest of ya life and did 7 gigs a week still gonna be ruined finaincally and playign to an empty house but hey it was great fun and everythign just falls into place and the tour was a resoundign success cause more than 10 people turned up to ya gigs if ya lucky and ya made money liek it was goign out of fashion and but in the real world prob gonna cost ya morwe than ya wages ya make doign ya real job no ones gonna turn up and ya gonna lose a fortune and in end was it worth it NOPE

 

watch this for the truth about the tour and been in band

 

Welcome to reality. Get some vocational training and find a job you can actually live on.

Think back to the very beginnings of music. Electricity hadn't been invented yet, though there were wooden string instruments—but where was the food supposed to come from? You played at parties or weddings at the local castle—the lord's estate. If you were talented, you could also give music lessons to the wealthy in exchange for payment.

 

i would listen to it but the small intro clip of the band playing live, i am not sure if i liked that

 

There is no one size fits all answer to the OP.

Touring is a great if you are early stage career. That gives you a great grounding in expanding your market, promotion, getting an early adopter following in new places. You can test your music and adapt in front of non-hometown people who don't know or don't care about you like your usual following.

Really though, is this The Beatles question ? ie. they stopped touring and became a studio band totally focussing on creating.

That was easy for them, as they were a worldwide phenomenon at that point after relentless touring, and had outgrown the equipment available to them and were too musically complex.

Like I said, there is no one size fits all answer. The more gigging about you do, the more people you meet, the more feedback you get, and the more contacts you make.

You'll also find out if it's for you, and what your band mates/crew are like to live in each others pockets are really like.

Lastly, the more experiences you have, the more inspiration you have to write about.

Also, re: writing, you've reduced it to to a one size fits all answer, which it obviously isn't, everyone is different.

 

Last edited: Jul 26, 2026 at 6:17 PM

Touring and merch sales are one of the only viable means bands have left to make a living. Many bands also test and hone new material on the road for upcoming records.

 

yeah but this is 2026 and everythign has a price tag and if ya got no money then ya aint in the game simple as that and that oh just get a job sure that might have worked 50, 60 70 yrs ago but this is 2026 not the 60s or the 70s and ya coudl do that not reality when ya cant even afford to pay ya rent or buy food so i cant see how that works these days its like the sayign oh just work till ya drop and everythign will be ok and if ya cant afford it just dont use netflix or eat out

 

if you beleive that then your not livign in the economic reality of 2026

 

watch it its good and its true what the guys sayign about tourign and the music game and bands

 

That’s not what I meant; let me put it another way: making money from music is very hard—you have to be incredibly talented. It’s better to get vocational training—say, as a skilled tradesperson—to make a living. A 40-hour week (5 days)! Your generation is going to have a really tough time—rents are sky-high, and food and energy prices are soaring. Maybe you guys should start organizing and voting for a different party!

 

my generation how old do you think i am im 55 mate been there seen it done and if ya think just workign hard and talent is what makes it in this day and age then your not payign attyention to whats goign on in music its not by coincidence that 8 out of the top ten singles are all signed to disney its not just bad luck ya can make a top number 1 sellign single and sell millions but make 1500 quid out of it not just well ya didnt try hard enough when if by some amazing stroke of luck and genius ya do make a number 1 best sellign single or album and the label goes you have to go on tour and we need a pop video who do you thinks payign for all that yeah YOU are and if by chance ya tour sells out how much of that investment do ya think yourt gonna get back yeap a great big fuckign ZERO nothign and prob gonna be in more debt to the ruthless record label thats justy takign ya for everythign ya got not forgettign the studio time and all the rest of it by time ya made ya number 1 record and gone on tour and made ya pop video and album and all fuckign rest of it who do you think makes any money wont be you might make a couple of grand if ya lucky but by time ya paid off the cost of the tour ya studio time and ya pop video ya goign to have made yep absolutely fuck all and if ya real unlucky the label who signed you made ya sign so creative contract where the label owns all ya future works so even if ya pay off all ya "advances" and the tour and ya pop video and ya studio time and all rest of it that ya have to pay for yaself chances are the deal ya signed gives whoever ya signed to control oevr all ya future creative works so ya signed everything away and thats how it works these days and if ya doign it ya self then ya got absolutely no chance and just not worth the money ya gonna have to outlay and the gear ya need be better off investign in a studio then a tour

 

The original question is not about the financial aspects of "to tour" and "not to tour". It does not ask anything at all about the business aspects, so people are conflating their own issues. Some people will just want to post things to make people think how great they must be at music, having the need to tour in the first place. I'm thinking a question about the creativity from artists of the level where they actually have managers, tour managers, business managers, etc. not someone's high school garage band. That's just a road trip with some instruments in tow.

Most bands and artists do not practice together every day, or even close to it. When they are touring, they are basically practicing together every day; and for that entire duration of the tour they are fully immersed in "band mode". Why would it not make sense to write stuff when you are stuck with all those people every day?

They were not a very good example of this. In various videos, they stated that Paul McCartney was constantly writing stuff if he had any spare time to do it, like almost obsessively. Plus, they supposedly wrote a large majority of the material on Rubber Soul while touring. Then they recorded in quickly in the studio.

 

Last edited: Jul 26, 2026 at 8:36 PM

It’s better to get proper training and make music in your spare time. Better to recognize the exploitative system and market your music yourself—or just give it away for free!

Whether or not to tour is a decision for the musician or the band to make themselves! In my town, a punk band went on a small tour during their time off—playing live shows in small clubs and youth centers! Here, you can even perform at local festivals. All without the big shots calling the shots.