Peter Frampton: 55 million streams and I got paid $1700
So out of the $50, what's your guess on how much Frampton ends up with, $5? $10?
Most of the time with bigger acts, there is just a guarantee.
The promoter sells the show to the venue (or company that owns it) and the artist is paid for either the entire tour or per venue which is then split between the members/promoter/label/attorney/management/A&R guy/personal promotions/merch fees, etc. The ticket price goes to the venue.
Example of this would be GnR's recent tour.
They wanted 3 mill per venue.
Let's base this off the typical prices, $50 for nosebleed, $100 for mid tier, $500 for floor-front rows:
GnR gets 3 mill and the venue pulls in around 5 mill off ticket prices.
After all is said and done, IF the members all got equal shares (which they don't in GnR, but let's assume) they probably walk away with about 100,000 a piece per venue of the 3 mill.
Not too shabby.
Now that's GnR.
Let's talk about the average band that isn't a bazillionair, once in a lifetime success.
The arrangement that is getting more and more common is for the artist to agree to pay the venue a set amount to play and in return gets the ticket sales (which are then divided up) in this arrangement the goal is to break even and try and make a profit off of fan experiences (VIP/Meet and greets). This and merch (which you usually just use the profits to by more merch) are the keys to making money on the road.
Most of the bands you and I go to see spend about 2-3 years on the road per album release and the members bring in anywhere from 30,000-45,000 a year.
Those are the Successful bands that have formed in the last 20-30 years.
The lesser-known or recently signed bands are just getting in debt with the hope that they will catch on and get to the point where they are making the above.