Artists cancelling touring plans due to economic conditions

[p.pete]

45 minutes ago, Alvoram said:

Not sure where you're getting that from, the pound is near it's all time lows against the dollar...

Back in Jan we booked (and thankfully paid for!) a trip to Florida to go to Disney World and Universal a few weeks ago. We got a really good price, as the £-$ was at 1.37. My friend booked at the same time, but rather than book a package and lock in prices then, he thought he'd save some money by booking everything separately and paying on arrival. 

This was a bad move. The £-$ slipped to 1.14... That meant for every £1000 we spent, we got $230 LESS dollars than we would have got in January!!! Very costly for me, as food and souvenirs were more... But far more costly for him as he had to pay his hotel bills at the desk!

That was when it was 1.14 a few weeks ago... Now it's at 1.11!!!

This is the £-$ for the last 5 years... It's EXTREMELY worrying... 

Yup, definitely been pointed out to me above that the pound has tanked verses the dollar (I was thinking of the mini-crash after the mini-budget initially) - still seems an inflation issues though over and above a currency issue (assume these will be related), especially if any of the bands cancelling are american (are they?  assume it's dirt cheap for them to come the opposite direction).  Euro has tanked against the dollar too over the last year too - so has there been an effective currency difference between uk and europe that'd cause an issue?  Whereas inflation is massive across Europe (France being an exception as it's inflation is a tiny 5%).

[tarw]

2 hours ago, p.pete said:

Yup, definitely been pointed out to me above that the pound has tanked verses the dollar (I was thinking of the mini-crash after the mini-budget initially) - still seems an inflation issues though over and above a currency issue (assume these will be related), especially if any of the bands cancelling are american (are they?  assume it's dirt cheap for them to come the opposite direction).  Euro has tanked against the dollar too over the last year too - so has there been an effective currency difference between uk and europe that'd cause an issue?  Whereas inflation is massive across Europe (France being an exception as it's inflation is a tiny 5%).

I wouldn’t think that inflation would have as much effect as if everything is going up by 10% in Germany then the Germans will be expecting to pay 10% more for their tickets than last year. Although they might do fewer of them due to affordability. 
To me it will be the extra costs due to exchange rates and the additional costs of visas and delays at borders that will make them uneconomic 

[moogster]

So here in the NL as some of you mentioned inflation is skyrocketing, BUT that number is partially due to the gas price thing. As much as prices are up, it's not THAT much on tickets. For reference, Gold circle for Blink 182 is 95 Euros, Arctic Monkeys standing 70. A lot of known but not huge acts get towards the 60/70 mark, which often puts me off. The price of drinks has REALLY gone up.

On the other hand, Just Mustard was playing last week for 20... Couldn't go but if I'd have I'd definitely have pitched in an extra 20 for random merchandising because there's no way this was profitable.

Like in the UK there's a lack of crew as well in venues/for festivals, so costs are going up there too.

[Alvoram]

4 hours ago, p.pete said:

Yup, definitely been pointed out to me above that the pound has tanked verses the dollar (I was thinking of the mini-crash after the mini-budget initially) - still seems an inflation issues though over and above a currency issue (assume these will be related), especially if any of the bands cancelling are american (are they?  assume it's dirt cheap for them to come the opposite direction).  Euro has tanked against the dollar too over the last year too - so has there been an effective currency difference between uk and europe that'd cause an issue?  Whereas inflation is massive across Europe (France being an exception as it's inflation is a tiny 5%).

I don't think it's an either / or thing... On their own, inflation or currency issues could be overcome with a small ticket price increase. The problem is the combination of both. Combined, the issue hits both turnover and expenses, a double whammy. 

An American act looking to fill Wembley with 90k at an average of £100 per ticket 9 months ago was looking to bring in £9M per concert... Which in their own currency, at a rate of 1.37, equated to $12,330,000

Now that same concert, at a rate of 1.11, is worth $9,990,000... An instant loss of well over 2 MILLION dollars... All because the £ is tanking. 

Add that on top of the inflation issue, which has meant that expenses and costs to put on the show are now considerably higher than they were, and you have a problem that cannot be overcome by a small ticket price increase. And it's difficult to imagine the public shelling out for tickets that are priced in accordance with both the exchange rate, and increased costs, especially when that public is wondering how they're going to heat their homes this winter. 

  

4 hours ago, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

Obviously, disposable income is the first thing to go in such times and normally at this time of year I'd be planning the forthcoming summer, capitalising on early birds for various festivals and buying tickets for larger shows across Europe but at the moment I've got absolutely nothing in the diary for 2023. I'm definitely reluctant to commit to anything at this stage. Anyone else in the same boat?

I don't think I have one single gig booked in after this Thursday (a friend's son's band, £5 a ticket) and for someone who attends between 25-30 gigs a year, that's unheard of.

Yep, nothing booked, and the only thing we're planning to book any time soon is Glasto. Unless something changes this will most definitely be our only gig of any sort next year. And if things carry on, may be our main holiday too. 

[tarw]

https://news.sky.com/story/fears-of-new-bureaucracy-rules-and-costs-have-all-come-true-brexit-making-touring-europe-unviable-for-uk-artists-12667548

[Ayrshire Chris]

21 hours ago, tarw said:

https://news.sky.com/story/fears-of-new-bureaucracy-rules-and-costs-have-all-come-true-brexit-making-touring-europe-unviable-for-uk-artists-12667548

Inflation, soaring fuel costs and the squeeze on folks disposable income has come on top of brexit. All will affect bands touring costs outside theUK 

[tarw]

14 minutes ago, Ayrshire Chris said:

Inflation, soaring fuel costs and the squeeze on folks disposable income has come on top of brexit. All will affect bands touring costs outside theUK 

Sorry I wasn’t suggesting that it was the only reason. If you look at my posts above I have been saying that there are many reasons. I just saw the article and thought it was pertinent