Concert tickets are more expensive than ever, and according to Live Nation, 2023 was the biggest year ever for concert turnout and ticket sales. So why are indie artists turning to OnlyFans to pay the bills? This is PART ONE of our new series, Money Troubles. And for the next few weeks, we're looking into the ways everyday people are trying to make ends meet... and what it says about how our culture views labor, basic needs, and even our favorite pastimes. In this episode, Brittany sits down with NPR culture reporter Isabella Gomez Sarmiento to get into the economic factors driving musicians to digital sex work and what that says about the music industry's dwindling middle class.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
Why are musicians turning to OnlyFans?
Today on the show, Isabella joins me to get into why artists are opting out of traditional platforms and what it says about our growing divide between the haves and the have-nots. I want to talk more about what's going on with touring and why that seems like it has become less and less of a solid economic opportunity for artists, especially independent artists.
In your article, Stephen Parker, executive director of the National Independent Venue Association, names Live Nation as the, quote, biggest threat to live touring in the United States because of their monopoly on the live music market. Can you give an idea of the allegations that artists or legislators have made against Live Nation or companies like it?
Yeah.
So, I mean, you know, the Department of Justice and 30 states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation, basically saying that because they have their hands in so many different aspects of live entertainment, you know, they own venues, they are involved in artist management, they're involved in promotion, they're involved in ticketing, that the fact that they have so much control over the industry might be enabling them to raise ticket prices significantly.
In a way that's concerning for both fans and for artists and also obviously for everyone that works to put on a live show. I mean, that goes from like independent venue owners to the people who work valet parking at a venue or the bartender or the crew and the band for a big musician.
Like there are so many people involved in putting on a live show and the money has to sort of trickle its way down. And it seems like the concern is that when one company holds so much control, that money might not be making its way all the way down.
You know, something else that I have seen is other established artists talking about how difficult touring has been. I'm thinking of artists like James Blake and Little Brother. Little Brother has been critical of also venues themselves that are asking for a cut from independent artists when they previously had not.
Little Brother is embarking on what they say will be their last tour this year, which is wild to think about. You know, a group with such a solid fan base saying, hey, touring isn't worth it for us anymore. That's something that definitely caught my attention.
Yeah. And I mean, like you mentioned, like it's definitely not just these companies. There's so many factors. It's also inflation. Like the cost of everything that it takes to tour has gotten significantly more expensive. But what the artists are being paid out might be the same as it was seven years ago.
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