Liela Moss – formerly of The Duke Spirit – has cancelled her forthcoming tour due to the “spiraling costs” of shows.
The singer took to her official X/Twitter account to share a statement explaining why the planned shows have been called off. “The spiraling cost of putting these dates on, combined with poor ticket sales has forced me to reconsider the viability of continuing with the shows,” began her post.
She went on to say that the short tour would leave her with a considerable amount of debt and that she as a solo musician “expected and was prepared for by way of forecasting a small upward trajectory in shows and venue size next year, as a means to get some of that investment back over time.”
Cancellation of live dates. pic.twitter.com/ujm6h10tSK
— ʟɪᴇʟᴀ ᴍᴏss (@LielaMoss) October 7, 2024
Moss added that she can not “justify or afford to lose that amount of money if it isn’t furthering my career,” adding that with the lack of ticket sales, she is not in any position to move forward to “get any funds back even gradually”.
“I understand that money is tight for everyone, and there are a lot of other great bands and musicians touring right now,” she wrote. “Somewhere down the chain someone takes a hit…l think this year, that is me, sadly.”
She continued: “The promoter and agent have been working very hard and have been a great team, no one is at fault. The live scene as it stands right now is suffering from low ticket uptake among the smaller artists and bands and despite trying to streamline all costs – from using my home as a rehearsal space, applying for grants which I just missed out on, to reducing accommodation costs – I stand to be in considerable debt. I am beyond gutted and was so excited to play my new album live and with such great musicians.
“I hope you might understand, and thank you for your continued support particularly the lovely souls who did buy tickets! Thank you so so much… This is not only sad for me but totally embarrassing too, but I felt I should tell the truth as it is for me right now.”
Last month, Michael Kiwanuka reflected on the financial struggles that come with touring and expressed his “worry” that rising costs could deter new musicians from playing live.
“I worry that the quality of artists we produce may diminish because they don’t learn the grassroots, what it is to play and connect with your audience,” he told Music Week.
Back in August, The Armed announced the cancellation of their scheduled US tour this year over financial issues.
“As the tour moving into pre-production has called for resources we simply do not have, we’ve had to face facts that our current scenario is simply untenable. We cannot, at this moment, bring you the show,” they wrote in a statement shared on their social media accounts.
That same month, Rachel Chinouriri dropped out of Remi Wolf’s US tour and several festival slots due to the financial strain becoming “too much”.
At the start of the year, members of Blur, the band formerly known as Easy Life, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly and more told NME about the huge battles artists face when playing live, as well as how they hope the industry will improve going forward.
Speaking at the Featured Artists Coalition, Murray Matravers of Easy Life looked back at how the band were forced to cancel their North American tour due to the expenses.
“We were supposed to do about 2,000 capacity venues in Europe and like 500-600 in the US, but we had to cancel both of those tours because we couldn’t make it work financially,” he explained. “We’ve got two albums out, we’ve toured America three times already and we’ve done Europe before, but we had to cancel them both at the last minute because we were going to be losing tens of thousands of pounds.
“It was really difficult for a while because we live in a world where a – dare I say it – moderately successful band can’t play France and make it work financially. It’s a pretty fucked-up situation for artists. I’ve been there as an emerging artist staying in shit hotels and all that and assumed it would get better. I don’t mean to piss on anyone’s campfire but it really doesn’t; it gets more and more disappointing!”
Featured Artists Coalition’s CEO David Martin also told NME about the issue of live spaces closing down and the impact it is having on emerging talent.
“Across the FAC’s artist community, there is growing discontentment about this issue – and the lack of acknowledgement from the wider industry. There are many artists who have built significant fanbases for their recorded music, but who cannot make the economics of domestic touring stack up. They either have to scale back the ambitions of their live shows, or rely on favours just to cover costs,” he explained.
Various figures from the UK grassroots live music scene spoke to NME about how 2023 was the “worst year for venue closures”.
Having made an impassioned plea at a government hearing into the call for a levy earlier this year, Lily Fontaine of English Teacher –the 2024 Mercury Prize winners for their debut LP ‘This Could Be Texas‘ – previously told NME of her joy at the DCMS’ call for a long-term response to help artists survive and thrive.
“It’s a relief that the enquiry has resulted in recognition at a governmental level that not only is the music industry ecosystem is in crisis, but that saving it and bettering it is important,” she said.
Earlier this year Another Sky’s frontwoman Catrin Vincent spoke to NME about how “It’s hard to sustain yourself as an artist.”
“It’s really tough right now for musicians – especially in the UK. There are a lot of factors hitting us: like Brexit, the cost of living crisis. Most artists, maybe not the ones you see doing really well, but we rely on cheap ways of living – from small places in London, sub-letting rooms, too many people in a house, those kinds of situations,” she said.
She continued: “Now that’s all gone, life costs a lot more, and people are having to work more jobs. It’s really hard to sustain yourself as an artist. You rely on cheap ways of living because you don’t get paid properly. Streaming doesn’t pay, TikTok has had a major impact on the music industry, there’s too much.”
