FEATURE:
Live and Let Die?
IN THIS PHOTO: Little Simz/PHOTO CREDIT: Jamie Hawkesworth for The Gentlewoman
A Potential Decline in Live Music and Exodus of Artists from the Industry
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IT is a hard time for everyone…
PHOTO CREDIT: djswingkid/Unsplash
and, because of a combination of things, people are struggling more and having to budget in a way they have never done. This extends to energy bills, food, and non-essentials. There are reasons why things are so bleak, especially in the U.K. The invasion of Ukraine has caused impact regarding energy prices/supply and food. This Government has mishandled things and they are leading the country into darkness (perhaps literally come the winter!). For everyday people, life is a lot harder than it has ever been. Of course, this extends to music. There are a couple of recent articles from The Guardian that show the damage that is being done to the industry. For many artists, touring is the only way they can make money. Album sales and merchandise and important sources of revenue but, if they cannot afford to tour and travel, this means that their livelihoods and futures are at risk. After the woe of the pandemic and the damage that did to live music – what with artists and fans unable to see one another -, there is a new tsunami that threatens to do irrevocable damage! For many, live performance now is for exposure. Many artists are touring and losing money; perhaps doing the thing they love to give something to fans at the detriment to their own pockets and welfare. That is a huge sacrifice at a time when live music should be supported and giving a big lifeline. It helps to many people and provides community and connection when we sorely need it! The Guardian reported worrying news and testimonies for their feature last month:
“There was no single last straw that caused Santigold to pull the dates behind her new album, Spirituals. “It was a buildup of factors over the last 10 years,” she says. The rise of streaming was a key issue: a stressor that forced musicians to find other ways to make money. “All of a sudden you constantly had to do social media to keep marketing yourself, find out what you can sell, get branding deals, do private gigs,” she says. “It’s almost undoable.”
Then came the pandemic, which stopped gigs and heightened the demand for artists to self-promote. Once restrictions lifted, musicians resumed touring rabidly. “You rush back out and everyone’s rushing out,” says Santigold. “So I had a tour that had me making no profit – and possibly a loss – and the only incentive was to stay in the public eye. And that’s the biggest fear for any musician: if you are not constantly in people’s faces you will not last.”
IN THIS PHOTO: Santigold
For years it has been apparent that stresses in the live music industry needed to be addressed. The constant gripes about ticket prices suggested the finances were not working for anyone: from fans feeling they were being taken advantage of, especially with the introduction of dynamic pricing, to artists seeing ticket spend lining the pockets of touts and resellers. During the pandemic, some promoters I spoke to hoped that the pause in live performance might lead to a conversation about lowering artists’ fees. No one is winning.
The situation now is even grimmer, given the lifting of restrictions and the current economic crisis. British acts are facing the costs of Brexit on European touring, while Britain, always the short straw of the international touring circuit, with its low fees and mediocre artist support, is less appealing than ever for visiting acts. Audiences are feeling the pinch and the cost of touring utilities and infrastructure has risen.
“The supply is much more limited because so many people went out of business during the pandemic,” says Sumit Bothra, managing director of ATC Management, Europe, which has PJ Harvey and Katie Melua among its roster. “On top of that, a lot of venues closed, and a lot of promoters went out of business, so there’s increased demand there. A 20-date tour might now have to be a 10-date tour. And you need talented crew to put a show together, and a lot of crew left the business during the pandemic.” (It’s impossible to overstate how deep the effects of the pandemic run: earlier this year, the head of one arena show production business told me there was a real problem with finding the correct-sized bolts to construct a stage.).
IN THIS PHOTO: The Anchoress/PHOTO CREDIT: Lily Warring
The bottleneck of artists returning to the road has also made it challenging to route tours sensibly, one key way to keep a tour viable. It’s not just about the geography making sense – driving from London to Glasgow via Manchester rather than Southampton – but ensuring that days off are minimal since the crew still have to be paid and the artists still need per diems. With venues booked up, that is much harder now, says Mike Malak, an agent with Wasserman Music, who books Billie Eilish, Kelis and Pusha T, among others. “If you’re trying to put together a tour in Europe, if you don’t plan a year in advance, you can’t get the beautiful routing you want. A lot of artists are now accepting they might have to go a couple of days off or go longer distances between shows, which might mean two drivers – another cost.”
Artists’ fees, meanwhile, have remained the same, or worse. Catherine Anne Davies, who tours and records as the Anchoress, says she has had offers that were half the pre-pandemic level, despite acclaim for her 2021 album The Art of Losing. “When I toured my first album, every show made a loss,” she says, “but you’re building something and you think, next year we might do better. We’re not even starting from zero now, though. We’re starting from minus 20.” Maybe she could make it up by working her merch table harder, she says, but then she exposes herself to an increased risk of catching Covid – which would mean cancelling more shows, with no insurance to make up the shortfall”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Billie Eilish/PHOTO CREDIT: Kelia Anne MacCluskey
There are still issues when it comes to streaming platforms paying artists fairly. This is not a sustainable or realistic source of income for most artists. Where do artists get their money so they can keep touring and play live? Is the Government willing to let live music die?! It is shocking to read! Things will recover at some point, yet there needs to be more injection of money to the industry than has been suggested. I am sure there is an instant support package in place, but there is an urgency and need for realistic and sustained financing to ensure that artists can perform live. Of course, things are not as simple as that. It is an almost impossible situation now where artists are in the same boat as everyone else and are struggling to stay afloat. Another article from The Guardian this week heaped more misery on music fans. Not only is live music under threat, but thee is a possibility that so many artists will leave the industry! In spite of some bad news and potential disaster, there is potential light at the end of the tunnel:
“About 98% of musicians are worried about how the cost of living crisis will affect their career, new research shows. The study, by charity Help Musicians, reveals that half of the 525 UK artists surveyed are “extremely” or “very” concerned they’ll be forced to leave the industry.
As living costs soar, 91% say they are unable to afford music equipment and 90% of UK musicians are worried about affording food with their current income. Meanwhile, the hike in energy and fuel costs is making travelling to gigs and heating rehearsal spaces difficult for many.
The issue of rising costs has compounded with the ongoing effects of Brexit and the pandemic, according to Help Musicians CEO James Ainscough.
IN THIS PHOTO: Animal Collective/PHOTO CREDIT: Hisham Bharoocha
“Musicians came into 2022 with quite an uphill battle,” he says. “As they rebuild their careers, what they’re finding is not only rampant inflation driving up the cost of working, but also the whole other set of factors that have stacked against them: they can still get ill with Covid and have to cancel shows, audiences haven’t all returned to pre-pandemic levels, there are touring challenges thanks to the Brexit deal, which makes it harder to build your career with audiences outside the UK. All these things together create a really brutal environment.”
The research shows that 60% of musicians say they are earning less than they were a year ago, while eight in 10 have reported earning less than before the pandemic.
“It’s a set of circumstances I don’t think musicians have ever seen before,” Ainscough says.
The new financial pressures are affecting musicians across the world. Last month, Animal Collective cancelled their UK and Europe tour dates due to increased costs. “From inflation, to currency devaluation, to bloated shipping and transportation costs … we simply could not make a budget for this tour that did not lose money even if everything went as well as it could,” the band wrote in a statement.
Animal Collective is just one in a series of bands and musicians cancelling upcoming tours for this reason. Metronomy also cited costs when cancelling their US dates; earlier this year, Mercury prize winner Little Simz said it made no sense financially for her to tour the US.
IN THIS PHOTO: Metronomy
Independent venues and fans are also experiencing barriers due to rising costs. Faced with growing bills, the country’s smaller institutions are having to downscale operations and contemplate redundancies, while rising ticket prices to account for losses mean that listeners are getting “priced out” of live music.
The implications for the economy and culture more generally could be pronounced, says Ainscough: “Music is a highly successful industry in the UK. Pre-pandemic, it was worth well over £5bn a year to our economy. As an industrial sector, as something that represents Britain, we need to make sure that we don’t see it wither from the grassroots up.”
He adds: “We need music: it lifts our souls, it brings people together. It’s in everybody’s interests to make sure that we don’t have a whole bunch of highly talented musicians leave the profession over the next six to 12 months. The impact could last years and years.”
Help Musicians’ data shows that derailed careers and financial stresses are also having a knock-on impact on wellbeing. Of those surveyed, 68% say their mental health is worse than before the pandemic and Help Musicians has seen a 34% increase in calls to its support services this year.
In response to the findings, the charity has pledged to invest £8m into services that will support musicians this year, including 24/7 mental health support, mentoring, funding for touring and debt management services.
Ainscough hopes that these efforts, along with sector-specific support from the government and increased public uptake in live music will make a difference. “We can not only save the music scene but leave it in great health ready for 2023 and beyond”.
IN THIS PHOTO: Wet Leg/PHOTO CREDIT: Parri Thomas for NME
In the same way as financial aid helped venues and artists during the pandemic, a similar pledge and effort needs to come into effect – as it seems like it will – to safeguard venues and artists again. It is worrying to hear that so many are thinking of leaving because they cannot afford to make music and get so little back. Having to work regular jobs and maybe so music more as a hobby, it is devastating to consider what impact that will have wider afield. I also feel that the state of live music – whereby artists are not earning enough to sustain themselves – and it being more of a chance for exposure rather than earning money is another troubling fact! There is a definite disparity between mainstream artists and newer acts. Even so, big acts like Little Simz are feeling the strain. Artists are also pushing themselves and touring more than normal to make ends meet and pleaser their fans. This has a troubling effect on mental health. Earlier this year, artists including Wet Leg and Sam Fender announced they would be cancelling gigs to focus on their mental health. In the same way it shouldn’t be the case artists are having to quit what they love because they can’t afford to keep going, they also shouldn’t be struggling as they are in terms of mental health and gigs. There are bodies that provide mental health support, but it is worrying that the industry is seeing artists push themselves so much. I hope that 2023 offers greater stability and hope. There will be damage, as many artists will quit the industry and many will scale down their gigs. Let’s hope that financial assistance will mean that there is hope for live music and the industry at large next year! So much troubling news is coming out at a time when we need musicians and their talent now more than ever! Musicians are so vital to all of us, and live music is so important! Let us hope that we do not…
LET it die.