The music industry has been on the decline for years, financially speaking. Since streaming became the most popular way to consume music, artists have seen their income drop exponentially. And while tours used to be a great way for musicians to promote their albums and rake in more money from ticket sales, things have changed.

Now even career artists and bands are finding themselves losing money while touring instead. Kate Nash opened up about her experience recently, explaining: “I have a really successful career. I’m talking about career [artists] — bands and artists that are not in stadiums and arenas but have thousands and millions of fans. I can tour the world. But I cannot make a profit from those tours. I’m in the red. I’m losing money. What the fuck is up with that?”

The English singer-songwriter has toured the globe since her first album was released in 2007, and she revealed that despite selling out the same venues that she’s done for years and ticket prices reaching record highs, she’s making about the same as she was seven years ago. If the costs of touring had stayed the same that might not be an issue — but the cost of everything has skyrocketed.

That’s why Nash decided to join the subscription-based platform OnlyFans last fall. She was planning her North American and European tour and after looking at the numbers, she discovered that yes, she would lose money on the tour. She couldn’t afford to pay the bills that were coming in for it, so she made the decision to launch what she called “Butts 4 Tour Buses.” She claimed “my arse is always out anyway,” and began posting risque (though not explicit) photos available to those who subscribed to her account. And she was able to pay all her bills in less than a week.

Thanks to the state of the music industry, Nash plans to continue to offer these photos, as well as pay-per-view feet content and erotic food comedy videos. As she said about the industry, “It’s been structured really poorly for artists, but very well for millionaires that want to just treat music as content and then profit from it and move on to the next thing when music eventually collapses. Which it will, because venues are closing and bands cannot afford to go on tour anymore.”

The proof is in the pudding, as other artists like Santigold, The Black Keys, and Animal Collective who can’t come up with additional funds are being forced to cancel their tours due to costs. Even popular music festivals like Coachella and Governors Ball in New York City have struggled to sell tickets in the last year.

It’s more than just touring, though. Singer Lily Allen joined OnlyFans in June 2024 and revealed why after a user on X who wrote: “Imagine being one of the biggest pop stars/musicians in Europe and then being reduced to this.”

Allen shocked many with her response: “Imagine being an artist and having nearly 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify but earning more money from having 1,000 people subscribe to pictures of your feet. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”

It seems many musicians do, indeed, hate the game these days.