Tour managers are often the unsung heroes of the music industry. They’re at every show, on every tour, and in charge of every important detail that goes into safely getting an artist or band from one place to another. While women are slowly starting to make their way into this traditionally male-dominated field, it is still a very uneven playing field. In fact, only about 30% or less of all tour managers are women.
Marissa Mah is leading by example as she tours with some of the brightest young stars in America. Her most notable accomplishments include managing NLE Choppa’s Canada tour and Tay Money’s first US tour, both of which were massive successes. She’s also tour-managed 8+ artists during multiple Rolling Loud festivals over the past 2 years, and she’s currently working with numerous clients.
Marissa represents a growing demographic taking up their positions in the business side of music. As a woman of color, she is proud she’s moving the needle in this space and paving the way for other women with similar interests. An active advocate for women of color in music, Marissa has spent time and effort assisting other minorities in getting jobs in the industry and supporting other people of color through a non-profit she’s part of. She also reaches out to other women and women of color who face similar issues as she does for tips and support. Additionally, she supports organizations such as Live out L!ve, which focuses on providing resources and support for women in the live touring business.
“There is always something you can learn from everyone in the business, no matter what length of time they’ve been in the industry or their expertise,” Marissa opines. “Networking laterally is really important. You never know when having a relationship with peers can come in handy when working on projects, finding new jobs, or even getting advice on certain topics.”
Born to parents in fields vastly different from music, from a community with minimal ties to the music industry, Marissa knows this better than most. Even though she played a couple of instruments and sang in the choir as a child, music didn’t seem like a feasible career for Marissa. Her parents encouraged her to move toward medicine or law, but neither lit her heart on fire. In college, she bounced around between majors, thinking she would end up in finance or at a marketing firm.
After taking a music marketing class at the end of her sophomore year, Marissa became increasingly interested in the business side of music behind the scenes and all the creativity that went into the music that we know and love today. By then, she was already majoring in geography, so she looked outside the classroom to learn more about music. Her first experiences in the music business came during the pandemic, and she hasn’t looked back since.
“I applied for a job at the Color of Music Collective on a whim, during the height of COVID on a Facebook music networking group.. My first major internship came from speaking up in a conversation held in the virtual chat room app called Clubhouse from my bedroom back in Canada during the peak of COVID as well.”
Her career followed the same trajectory until she landed her current role, where she now works on some of the most successful tours and big festivals for some of the brightest young stars across North America.
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