Virtual touring - a way to avoid cost but at what price?

A theme develping today of posts all related to gigs and touring!

But what if you want to avoid the cost of touring (despite crashing on sofas and splitting gigs)? Gigs and tours are, after all, an integral part of your band marketing.

Can virtual touring be the answer?

The virtual tour might be but isn't necessarily a web hosted live show. It could be that, but it might just be getting the focus of a website to be on your band for a day with added interaction from your band.

My concern would be that, although the cost is much lower than mounting a tour, how much is the face to face interaction that you'll miss worth to you and your fans. Perhaps the virtual tour is an add-on to touring, not a repalcement.

MTT has a two part post of which only the first part is up so far.

A virtual music tour is similar to a traditional tour in that the band/musicians make several appearances, and in several locations, in an attempt to promote and sell their music. On a traditional tour, musicians make contact with clubs, bars or other suitable venues (suitable venues: house parties, small music festivals, state fairs, and Geri’s Bat Mitzvah) to book live shows. They then travel to each city, spend time at each location playing their music and possibly spending time with the audience in an effort to sell their music and merchandise. Many musicians will agree, for the effort and expense involved, touring and playing live doesn’t sell many CD’s or music downloads. (Although it can be a heck of a lot of fun, if you have the money.)

Read more about it here.