Lorde has added her voice to the chorus of artists lamenting the state of touring, explaining that “things are at an almost unprecedented level of difficulty.”
The singer said for many acts, “touring has become a demented struggle to break even or face debt” – and for some it is “completely out of the question.”
In her latest newsletter to fans, Lorde blamed “a storm of factors” largely stemming from the pandemic.
“Let’s start with three years’ worth of shows happening in one. Add global economic downturn, and then add the totally understandable wariness for concertgoers around health risks,” she explained. "On the logistical side there’s things like immense crew shortages, extremely overbooked trucks and tour buses and venues, inflated flight and accommodation costs, ongoing general COVID costs, and truly. mindboggling. freight costs.”
Lorde said the cost of moving a concert set-up around the world is three times higher than it was before the pandemic.
“I don’t know s**t about money, but I know enough to understand that no industry has a profit margin that high,” she wrote. "Ticket prices would have to increase to start accommodating even a little of this, but absolutely no one wants to charge their harried and extremely-compassionate-and-flexible audience any more f**king money.
“Scaring people away by charging the true cost ain’t an option. All we want to do is play for you.”
Lorde said the challenges of being out on the road are taking a toll on artists and crews.
“You’ll notice a ton of artists cancelling shows citing mental health concerns in the past year, and I really think the stress of this stuff is a factor,” she opined. “We’re a collection of the world’s most sensitive flowers who also spent the last two years inside, and maybe the task of creating a space where people’s pain and grief and jubilation can be held night after night with a razor thin profit margin and dozens of people to pay is feeling like a teeny bit much.”
In September, singer Santigold scrapped a tour or the U.S. and Canada due to costs. “I can’t make it work,” she shared at the time.
“Every musician that could, rushed back out immediately when it was deemed safe to do shows. We were met with the height of inflation—gas, tour buses, hotels, and flight costs skyrocketed—many of our tried-and-true venues unavailable due to a flooded market of artists trying to book shows in the same cities, and positive test results constantly halting schedules with devastating financial consequences,” she wrote.
“All of that on top of the already-tapped mental, spiritual, physical, and emotional resources of just having made it through the past few years. Some of us are finding ourselves simply unable to make it work.”
That same month, British singer-songwriter Arlo Parks cancelled a number of U.S. tour dates to focus on her mental health and Sam Fender pulled the plug on his remaining tour dates to “take the time to look after my own mental health."
Last month, Justin Bieber announced he was postponing the remaining dates on his Justice World Tour to next year. “I need to make my health the priority right now,” Bieber wrote, in a message to fans. “So I’m going to take a break from touring for the time being. I’m going to be ok, but I need time to rest and get better.”
In July, Canadian singer Shawn Mendes cancelled the remaining dates on his Wonder tour, to “take the time I’ve never taken personally, to ground myself and come back stronger.”