There is very little future left for any kind of non mainstream music that doesn't depend on image or sex more than it does on music.
It amuses me to no end when people suggest that artists can make up for recorded music revenues with live music revenues. These are people who obviously know little about the live music business. First of all Recorded Music revenues are largely "net" while live music revenues are "gross." Since most commentators are too fucking lazy to do the math (ahem NY Times) let me do it for you: In the relatively fair North American market ( assume it's worse everywhere else especially in UK). ON AVERAGE Buy ticket: $22-$30+taxes Ticket face value $20 Ticket Charge $2-$10 bucks 50% to venue/ 50% to ticketing agency 0% to artist. $20 Face Value $8 (40%) goes to venue (rent/security/staff/pa/lighting/promoter profit) $12 (60%) to artist. But this is artist gross! Then artist pays. $1.20 (10% of 60%) to agent $1.80 (15%of 60%) to manager $1.20 (non-resident state withholding tax average 10%)(Grrrrrrr... total government rent-seeking activity). $7.80 (39%) adjusted gross to artist on every ticket. Then the artist pays crew, transportation, hotels, fuel, meals, insurance etc Let's look and see how that works. Take moderately popular middle class touring band. Bare bones. 4 band members and two crew. 200 paid on a monday night in Tulsa OK. $20 face value on the ticket. Artist adjusted gross $1560 Typical daily expenses. $300 2 crew salaries (low ball!) $150 van/trailer rental or depreciation (300 miles a day) + insurance $90 fuel $450 hotels (two star or lower) $150 meals or per diems $100 amortize misc/overhead (supplies, accounting costs, repairs, storage, rehearsal space) $210 amortize day off /travel days (6 days on 1 day off) $1,450 approximate daily expense. Each band member (4) makes $27.50 before tax. or 0.7% of face value of each ticket. Sure the band members might make $500 bucks a show in their best markets on a friday or saturday night. But if you are very lucky that's 20 shows a year. The other hundred shows a year look like this.
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