The Oracle: How tour support works

A – Money that your record company gives you to make up losses from touring is called tour support.
Most new bands will find it difficult to tour any other way, as it is highly unlikely they will tour at a profit.
In the past tour support was relatively easy to come by but it is proving more and more difficult to negotiate nowadays.
This is primarily due to the fact that touring is an expensive part of the business and some of the majors doubt whether an artist really sells more records by going on the road.
In order to get tour support you will have to give a detailed account of your tour income and expenses but it is likely that any record company will cap their tour support regardless to the actual size of the losses.
An average limit for tour support would be in the region of \30-50,000 for a whole tour. Also most record companies now restrict the expenses that they will cover as part of the tour support.
There was a time when tour support was non-recoupable from your royalties as the record companies looked at it as the promotion of your records and treated it like any other advertising and promotion expenses they incurred. But those days are gone, and today tour support is always recoupable from your royalties.
Many record companies are so reluctant to commit to tour support that it won't have been included in the recording contract but will discuss it with the band when they think it is appropriate and warranted.
So, to answer your question, yes it is recoupable and may not even get mentioned in your contract but that shouldn’t stop you going in and demanding it when you need it. It’s a great thing to have and could prove decisive in forging a career for yourself in this business.