increasingly getting real about the cost-prohibitive aspect of touring. Supply-chain issues and inflation — two of the most major and deeply felt financial disruptors of post-COVID life in North America — have hit the live industry hard, as veteran rock acts like Anthrax and Stryker have had to
“Shaming artists when they advocate for themselves and for better fees is one of the worst socially normalized things in the industry,” she also— a sad and bizarre truth that played out in real time earlier this year, when buzzy indie rockers Wednesday went viral while detailing the financial hardships of playing Austin’s annual industry-palooza festival SXSW, only to be met with derision by “shut up and sing” types as well as fellowSuch skirmishes over obvious truths — specifically, that the...
As ever, the lone emerging one seems to benefit only the most powerful. The concept of extended and city-specific “residencies” is starting to appear in earnest, from Harry Styles’s recent and wildly successful run of dates at NYC’s Madison Square Garden venue to LCD Soundsystem’s seemingly now annual monthlong Brooklyn stints.
Of course, it is more than worth considering how the consumer is faring amidst what could be accurately described as a touring industry in perilous flux. Ticket prices keep climbing for shows of all sizes, especially ascontinues to take hold for large-scale shows; the post-COVID proliferation of cashless food-beverage-merch sales points can be its own headache, as well as potentially discriminatory when it comes to concertgoers’ technological abilities.
lfitzmaurice If live music wanted to be successful they should make teams and have owners, like football and baseball.
lfitzmaurice Ask yourself that question after you turn off ANY source of music for a week. Even background music, everything off.
lfitzmaurice It is worth it. Musicians make music to share the emotions it creates with other humans, not with computers and financial transactions. You should be asking, if Spotify and such platforms are worth it.
lfitzmaurice Poor things, I must start a go fund me to help.