gavin

Joe Rogan says there are “a lot of dorks” in MAGA: “That phrase sucks. America is great. Make America greater? I’m down. But MAGA, and then it becomes a movement of a bunch of dorks? A lot of them are these really weird, f-cking uninteresting, unintelligent people.”

Live tours face a huge challenge this summer. Some artists are already changing their plans. And if global tensions continue, it could send ripple effects through the touring industry. -------- If you've ever been on tour you know that every dollar matters. Airline tickets. Petrol. Buying lunch on the road. How many t-shirts you sell. When those things get more expensive, it can tip the whole tour into the red. And it's starting to squeeze for artists already this year. --------- This week, we mapped out how geo-political tension can ripple through the music industry. Wave 1 - initial price shock • oil, energy, and agriculture price shock higher. • jet fuel price doubles. • airline tickets, petrol creep higher. Wave 2 - artist tour budget squeeze • spring and summer tours are mostly locked in, but they'll feel more expensive than budgeted once on the road. • festival fly-ins and last minute bookings are costly. • gas, petrol, van costs and per-diems are squeezed. • some small tours are cancelled or re-routed. Wave 3 - venue costs rise • energy and utility bills are more expensive to renew. • food and drink prices rise. • artists start to demand higher guarantees from venues. • fans begin to limit their discretionary spending (on tickets, travel, drinks, merch). • smaller venues get cut from the tour plans. Wave 4 - higher ticket prices and consolidation • baseline touring costs are now structurally higher. • ticket costs get hiked • more megastar artist residencies + "luxury" ticketing. • grassroots venues struggle + indie artists can't make it work. -------- Obvious disclaimer here I'm not a geopolitics expert and hopefully tensions ease soon. However, this is already impacting some artists, and it's useful to map out how this type of thing can send ripple effects through the industry.

If anyone wants to help I spent a few hours talking to medical students in Havana today who work at a hospital who said they need N95s or equivalents desperately. I’ve already worked with someone to secure 5,000 masks but 40,000 supplies their entire hospital staff for a year.