If touring feels harder than it used to, you’re not imagining it. A new NME investigation puts numbers on what many independent artists have been quietly dealing with: rising costs, thinner margins, and a lot of unspoken pressure. Here’s what the data says, where the costs are hitting hardest, and what you can do about it.
The picture in the data
NME’s investigation found that the economics of live music are failing independent artists, especially those early in their careers. 84% of UK independent artists can’t afford to tour, more than half of UK venues make no profit, and more than 6,000 jobs have been lost.
Established acts are feeling it too. Frank Turner said “the economics of touring have gotten harder” and that he’s stepping back, while Garbage announced a “different model” of touring because of rising costs. For many artists, the debt is the hardest part to talk about. As one put it, not being able to afford to tour brings “the shame that somehow you’ve made a mistake,” and that has pushed artists who wouldn’t normally discuss it to open up.
Where the costs are hitting hardest
The squeeze comes from both sides. Artists face higher travel, accommodation, and staffing costs. Venues face their own pressures: a UK business rates revaluation in 2026 reset arena property taxes to 2024 trading levels, with some bills more than doubling and one major London arena facing a rise of around 300%.
Music Venue Trust chief executive Mark Davyd warned this would show up in ticket prices and in artists being less willing to route through the UK at all. The tax context is British, but the wider pattern, rising costs passed down a chain that ends with artists carrying the risk, isn’t unique to the UK.
What independent artists can do
There’s no easy fix, but there are smarter ways to approach when and how you tour.
Treat touring as a marketing cost until the numbers justify more. For most independent artists, touring becomes net profitable at roughly 150 to 250 tickets sold per night, consistently, assuming standard venue splits and no tour manager salary. Before that, touring works as a marketing expense: it builds fan density in a market, which drives streams, which improves the economics of the next tour.
Use routing tools to cut planning risk. A new free venue map for Australia launched this week, showing capacities and booking contacts nationwide. Tools like this make short, targeted regional runs easier to plan without a booking agent.
Choose quality over quantity. Five well-chosen dates may move your career further than twenty poorly routed ones. The goal of an early tour isn’t to cover costs, it’s to build real relationships with audiences in markets that will grow.
Keep other income streams running. Musosoup’s sync and licensing campaigns can bring in money from your recordings between tours, which matters more when live margins are thin. Multiple income streams make touring a choice rather than a financial necessity.
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