English singer-songwriter Kate Nash has launched an OnlyFans account to fund her latest European tour. The 'Foundations' singer introduced her 'Butts for Tour Busses' campaign on the subscription service, which is widely used by adult content creators. Subscribing to Nash's channel costs $10 (€9.60) per month.

In a statement about the campaign, Nash explained: 'While touring is the best job EVER, it is currently more of a passion project for many artists in 2024. A recent survey by Pirate Studios revealed that while ticket and festival prices are soaring, and a few in the industry are becoming millionaires or even billionaires from touring, most musicians and artists are struggling to afford to play shows.'

'Travel, accommodation, food, promotion, and employee costs have all increased, but musicians are not seeing corresponding increases in gig fees to cover these rising expenses. So this Christmas, I'm asking you to either buy a piece of my merch or subscribe to my new ONLYFANS account katenyash87 to help me pay great wages and put on a high-quality show. (No need to stream my music, I'm good with the 0.003 of a penny per stream, thanks) Pogue Mahone everyone! 🍑❤️' she added.

Nash has just kicked off a new tour to promote her fifth album '9 Sad Symphonies'. Beginning in Glasgow, the tour will visit venues across the UK before heading to the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Ireland. As Nash points out, 'touring makes losses, not profits,' making her the latest musician to draw attention to the financial challenges the music industry faces in sustaining live events for artists. While big names like Oasis, Taylor Swift, and Sabrina Carpenter can charge large sums for their international tours, smaller artists are struggling. In recent years, popular acts such as American indie band Animal Collective, singer Santigold, and rockers The Black Keys have all canceled international tour plans due to high overheads.

Live music remains highly profitable for a country's economy. A 2023 report showed that music tourism brought in £6.6 billion (€7.7 billion) to the UK last year. Nash isn't the only musician turning to OnlyFans for additional income. Lily Allen launched her own OnlyFans page earlier this year—also with a $10 monthly subscription plan—to share images and videos of her feet. Responding to criticism on X, Allen said: 'Imagine being an artist with nearly 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify but earning more from 1,000 people subscribing to pictures of your feet. Don't hate the player, hate the game.'

Last year, we reported on the dire state of the live music scene in the UK, with 125 venues closing in the previous 12 months. These venues represented 15.7% of the sector and were mainly grassroots spots where smaller artists establish their careers. Efforts are underway to address this issue. Last week, the UK government announced it would introduce a voluntary levy on tickets for concerts at stadiums and arenas to support smaller venues that have struggled in recent years due to the pandemic and rising inflation.

Source link:   https://www.euronews.com