The vast majority of independent artists cannot even afford to tour, new survey reveals
A new survey has revealed some depressing, if revealing, stats about just how tough up-and-coming artists are finding it out there. The headline figure itself is a shocker – 84% of independent artists in the UK cannot afford to go on tour in 2025.
The research has been done by Ditto, the UK-based online music distributor. They interviewed 1500 unsigned artists from a broad range of locations, age groups and styles of music and asked them about their experiences. We all know that grassroots musicians are struggling out there, but perhaps not as much as this.
Indeed the Ditto survey shows that 70.6% of UK artists have never toured at all. And that’s not for lack of opportunity either – some 62.2% have turned down offers to tour because of financial reasons.
And 70% of UK musicians fund their careers through personal savings, apparently. The rest get by on loans, sponsorship and other means. Just 7.4% find that their royalties are enough to cover their outgoings.
The age at which musicians are unable to tour is equally revealing – the cohort who are struggling the most are the 25 – 34-year-olds. Some 87.5% of them can’t afford to go out on the road, at an age when (historically at least) many artists are just reaching their peak.
The results come a day before the musicians’ pressure group Carry On Touring hold a lobby day outside the Houses Of Parliament. This aims to persuade the government to change the post-Brexit touring requirements and exempt artists from the current agreement that restricts freedom of movement for all UK nationals.
Brexit as it was negotiated in 2020 has had a catastrophic effect on UK grassroots musicians, putting European touring out of range for all but the most determined of souls, who also have sufficient savings behind them.
For more information on the Carry On Touring lobby of parliament head over to the Musician’s Union.
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