Why more musicians are cancelling tours at the last minute

By Multimedia Producer Wedaeli Chibelushi

Musicians have been cancelling tours at the last minute amid soaring inflation - just the latest calamity to impair the industry.

Industry figures say the "existential" problem exists across the board, with both established acts - like Little Simz and Santigold - and emerging ones letting their fans down this year.

In April, with 12 days to go until her tour of the States, Brit Award-winning rapper Little Simz told her fans via social media: “Being an independent artist, I pay for everything encompassing my live performances out of my own pocket and touring the US for a month would leave me in a huge deficit."

Two weeks ago, US star Santigold followed suit and cancelled her upcoming gigs - she specifically cited inflation and the fallout from the pandemic.

And when Zambian-Australian artist Sampa The Great axed her European tour just last week, she noted that independent artists like herself are "taking even greater financial risks when touring in this new world".

Clearly, just like consumers, musicians also face a crippling cost of living crisis. Concert revenue is the biggest source of income for most artists, and after not performing for two years during the pandemic, musicians have been hit with jacked up prices for tour essentials.

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“The price of everything has gone up for touring, whether that’s fuel, whether that’s equipment, whether that’s workforce - lots of people left the sector and we don’t have access to EU workers in the same way that we did,” David Martin, CEO of the industry's Featured Music Coalition told ITV News.

Brexit started unsettling the British industry before coronavirus and the cost of living crisis did, Mr Martin explains. The EU is the UK's largest overseas market, but touring there now means additional costs and bureaucracy for British acts.

As for why Little Simz, an artist with a Brit Award and over 220 monthly listeners on Spotify, has been bested by the industry's latest woes, booking agency boss Alex Bruford suggests: "She’s got all the costs of going out there with her band and crew, and touring out there for a long period of time.”

Mr Bruford, who represents the likes of Nick Cave and PJ Harvey, with his company, understands this struggle better than most - since February, 16% of the 7,500 concerts confirmed by his agency have been cancelled.

"They weren't all for economic reasons... but cancellations are a lot higher than they have been in the past," he said.

Artists that are both not just independent, but also emerging, are doubly disadvantaged, as up-and-coming singer Lady Donli tells ITV News.

They're able to charge less for tickets and don't get tour support, i.e. funding from record labels that recoups tour losses.

“When you’re an independent artist, its much harder," Ms Donli, who's performance on the iconic COLORS YouTube channel racked up over 210,000 views.

“I can’t even think about moving around with my band - the idea of moving around with them is daunting.”

So where does the industry go from here? "That's what I'd ask the government," Mr Martin said.

"I think too often - because the British industry is so successful globally - too often there’s a sense that, it’s been ok in the past and its always going to be okay.

"There are other countries that will be nipping at the UK’s heels. If the government is complacent of this, we will lose our status."

Mr Bruford, on the other hand, believes the UK industry is in a temporary "rebalancing" period.

"We’re sort of realigning expectations for artists and fans, so its going to take a little longer to get back to normality.

"But its definitely been challenging times,” he admits.