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There may be a frenzy over tickets for Taylor Swift, but for smaller fish in the music scene, the post-pandemic landscape is tough.
Key points:
- Rising WA band Joan & The Giants will lose thousands touring the east coast
- Mid-level acts are also struggling with higher costs and lower ticket sales
- For many in the music industry, taking on extra jobs is the only way to survive
While Swift could reportedly make $35 million from her current Australian tour, many other very talented acts are struggling just to break even.
Take up-and-coming Perth band Joan & The Giants, for example, who embarked on their first headline tour of the east coast this week.
The alternative pop band are on an upwards trajectory and have just been chosen to perform at BIGSOUND, a prestigious event on the Australian music industry calendar.
They have also just taken out several WA music awards, and have the sort of local following where loyal fans can belt out the lyrics to their songs at gigs.
But with rising costs for travel, freight, car hire and accommodation, Joan & The Giants' current tour of New South Wales and Victoria will be costly.
Lead singer Grace Newton-Wordsworth, who wears several hats in this independent, self-managed outfit, has already done the sums.
"I think we will probably lose a couple of grand. Maybe $2,000 to $4,000," she said.
"I think it's fairly accepted, especially for the first few trips of going over east, a lot of bands are making a loss from WA, and at the same time it's all working towards the bigger goal of eventually ... not making a loss."
At which point she burst into laughter, undaunted by the challenge and excited about the future.
Chasing the dream
The 26-year-old started the band with her partner, Aaron Birch, in 2019.
The couple are passionate about the value of their music and believe investing what would otherwise be their house deposit in their craft will be worth it in the end.
"We're starting at the beginning of our east coast journey and it's expensive but at the same time, it's a dream that we're willing to pursue," Grace said.
Connection through music is a key motivation for the band.
Grace is from a farm in the south-west of Western Australia and Aaron from an Indigenous community on the Dampier Peninsula, north of Broome in the Kimberley.
"We don't exactly write about where we are from, but definitely our emotions and what we've gone through over the last few years and our journey is all reflected in the music," Grace said.
"A lot of our music is about mental health.
"And just the amount of shows where people have come up and said 'Thank you for that song … I've been through a similar thing or I lost someone last year. That really helped my own mental health tonight'.
"I couldn't ask for anything more than to help people or connect to someone.
"That's what has made us fall in love over and over and over again with music and why we do it."
Fledgling acts struggling
It is not just the high cost of touring that is challenging just about everyone aside from the big stars.
Sydney-based artist manager Dan Medland has worked with the highly successful English singer-songwriter Passenger for many years.
He said while established acts like Passenger could cope with the post-COVID dynamics, mid-level artists and bands were struggling with the combination of higher costs and lower ticket sales.
"While you still have these incredible success stories … in the middle you have a real problem with lack of [ticket] sales," he said.
"You're now selling half of what you would have predicted [to sell] before."
He said fuelling the cost of putting on live shows was the scarcity of crew offering the specialised skills needed in things like sound and lighting.
"Since the pandemic, those skills, those people left for other jobs and haven't returned," he said.
"So we're now in a situation where the crew that are there are in very high demand."
Costs of freight to transport gear had also doubled and artists were reluctant to add the extra costs to their ticket prices in the current economic climate, he said.
The rising cost of living was having an impact on the younger demographic's ability to afford tickets for live shows, according to Livia Carré, executive director of WAM (West Australian Music).
"We're seeing your high-end shows like Coldplay and Taylor Swift are attracting that 30 to 55-year-old demographic who seem to have disposable income, where the younger sort of demographic are obviously finding it hard with increasing costs of living and interest rates going up," she said.
"Ticket sales for your average local shows are really not selling, it's a struggle to get people to your show."
Musicians wearing different hats
For many musicians, taking on additional jobs to support their original music is the only way to survive in the industry and have a family life.
Award-winning Perth folk artist Helen Shanahan is widely regarded as being at the top of her game.
But for a long time, she has supplemented the income from her original music by passing on her skills as a teacher.
"The reality is you do have to wear a few different hats to do what you love," she said.
"I love that it is still music related. I get to mentor others and give them some insights into the industry."
After recording and releasing her second album, Canvas, last year, Helen has put touring on hold for a while.
"I find myself really struggling to even consider that at the moment, not just because I've got a two-and-a-half-year-old," she said.
"But just because of the amount of funding I would need."
The headwinds facing the industry, however, have also led to some innovative ways of reaching new audiences.
Helen has found a niche market.
She set up the Songwriter's Cafe in the port city of Fremantle 18 months ago, after being inspired by an "in the round" session at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, where top-shelf musicians sit in a circle and take turns to perform.
Now, even on wet, wintery school nights, Helen's event regularly sells out.
"I think the appeal of it is that the audience feels like they can really get to know the artists and they can really connect in a way that they wouldn't ordinarily at a normal gig," she said.
"The room is dead quiet and we spend time on each individual song, get to hear the story behind it.
"There's that human connection element of it that I think is what brings people back to the show."
Grant helps artist make ends meet
The value of original music and live performance to the community certainly is not lost on Siobhan Cotchin, a rising star in the alt-country/rock scene who names Taylor Swift as her number one influence.
The 23-year-old said she "hustles hard" at her gigs to sell merchandise and engage with her audience. Not just to boost her income, but to grow her following.
Siobhan and her band recently returned to their base in Perth after a national tour supporting Melbourne rock group Kingswood for the first leg in WA and South Australia.
She was fortunate to get a state government arts grant to help with the costs of the tour.
"I was hustling hard after the Kingswood shows. I was like 'Hey, don't buy Kingswood merch, buy my merch'," she said.
"And that would make people laugh.
"Engaging with people after the show is really, really important, and that's what has served me in the long run."
Musicians tap into vinyl resurgence
Siobhan hoped releasing her next EP on vinyl would help develop another income stream.
Even with over 3,000 monthly listeners on her Spotify account, she does not make much of an income from her recorded music.
"Vinyl has made a huge resurgence and I think that's really good for artists even though it's quite expensive to get them printed," she said.
Like Helen Shanahan and Joan & The Giants, she too is resisting the urge to move permanently to the east coast where much of the music industry is based.
But despite all the challenges of distance, all three artists are determined to make it work from across the Nullarbor.
"I have such a great home base in Perth and a really great support network," Siobhan Cotchin said.
"It's totally doable to be in Perth and be a very successful artist.
"I mean, you look at artists like Spacey Jane and Stella Donnelly … they did it all from Perth."