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Are storm clouds on the horizon for the touring industry?

Live Nation has been telling us for months now that live music is back and that 2022 will be one of the best years ever for the touring industry. And yes, many shows and tours have been very successful with many sellouts. But if you look over there…

Animal Collection, a band that’s solidly in the middle of the pack of the music pantheon–11 albums, a steady fanbase, 574,000 listeners on Spotify every month–have had to cancel a UK/EU tour because they just can’t make it work financially.

The band says “Preparing for this tour we were looking at an economic reality that simply does not work and is not sustainable. From inflation, to currency devaluation, to bloated shipping and transportation costs, and much much more, we simply could not make a budget for this tour that did not lose money even if everything went as well as it could.

“We have always been the kind of people to persevere through the difficult times and get on stage unless our health prevented it. We are choosing not to take the risk to our mental and physical health with the economic reality of what that tour would have been.”

As Music Ally points out, this is concerning. A band like Animal Collective should be able to make touring work. But with inflation, COVID, fallout from the war in Ukraine, a strong US dollar devaluing other currencies, Brexit-related red tape, energy costs, crew shortages, and a slew of other problems, it’s proving to be too difficult to go on the road.

This is something we’ll have to watch in the coming months.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38022 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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