A recent post from TuneCore blog got us thinking about the state of touring – both in China and around the world generally.
As you may know, one of the struggles we’re still trying to navigate is that of getting people to value live experiences. The venue scene hasn’t been the same since the mid-late 2000’s, and many of the more established Chinese acts are increasingly depending on the festival circuit for opportunities to build their audiences and earn a pretty penny.
So it surprised us to see a band – Maine – offer up a free tour of the US on the heels of their 5th studio album. They call it the ultimate “Thank You”.
Singer John O’Callaghan explains:
“Our necessity to push ourselves creatively when it comes to the tour experience and the desire to deliver a unique “thank you” to the profoundly dedicated folks that have been seeing us for almost nine years now both inspired us to construct the Free For All Tour.”
Reading between the lines, it does seem we’ve gone from using live performances as a means to sell physical, to using physical to sell live performances, and now, to using live to sell…the very artists themselves? Obviously it’s always been about the artist – fan relationship. But relationships are so much deeper and essential to an artist’s career, they’ve become the centerpiece. A willing fan can do a lot more than buy a ticket. Maybe they’d be willing to drive the artist about, or put them up in their home, creating a sort of fan-supported tour at near 0 cost.
Maine’s approach wouldn’t work for many acts. And arguably, free shows would (and do) continue to undermine the paid model for seeing a show. If an artist decides to do a free show, how does the small economy of businesses around them make ends meet? Bars alone? In China – unless it’s an expat-heavy crowd – there isn’t much to be said for bars. In the case of a place like Shanghai, a free show more likely that not would totally flop because 1) there’s no shortage of events taking place here, and 2) the market for live rock shows is fairly small.
Is Maine’s “free-tour” approach a sign for future developments in the live music industry? Or simply one of those special cases where an act has been grafting long enough to be able to make such a thing happen?