FEATURE:
SAULT in the Wound?
The Balance Between Artists Covering Gig Costs and Not Overcharging Loyal and Eager Fans
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I think that there is something exciting…
about a mysterious act coming to the stage for the first time! We do not really have that sense of theatre and hype in music much. There have been some great acts coming through the past decade or so. Few match the quality and consistency of SAULT. Not very much is known about the group, as there are not promotional photos and a load of interviews. Fronted by, we know, the tremendous Cleo Sol (who is a successful solo artist in her own right), their latest album matches their very best. They are such a varied group who are writing really important and powerful songs. Few would have thought an early treat would come from them. They have announced some gigs. The first, on Thursday (14th), takes place at Drumsheds in London. It is making news for another reason. A large venue for sure, it is hardly in the centre of London. Out in N18, it is a bit of a trek for some. Even a bit for fans who live in London. The debut gig for SAULT comes with some ‘savoury’ notes. For fans who haver waited a long time and have had the stress of saving up for Christmas, is it a bit like pouring SAULT in the wounds (do not excuse the pun!) for the loyal fanbase?! In fact, a lot of the diehard fanbase are priced out and going to miss on an event that should have reflected a difficult time for many. I am not saying tickets should have been £20 or £30. Even if you are a tremendous group and there is this anticipation and build-up, think about artists like The Last Dinner Party and the fact there is plenty of momentum behind them. Their ticket costs are far lower than what SAULT are charging for their London gig this week. CLASH explains more:
“Earlier today – December 11th – tickets went on sale, priced at an eye-watering £99, and that’s before booking fee. One fan described themselves as “gobsmacked” while another commented “frankly, you’re just being plain greedy”.
The timing doesn’t help. The run up to Christmas leaves many of us drained financially – trips to see family have to be booked, there’s a work Christmas party to fork out for, and the list of presents grows longer each year. There’s commitments in place that a show in, say, March, don’t have.
There’s always been an implicit message of accessibility in Sault’s art – hosting a WeTransfer featuring five albums, for example, the price of admission being a password saying ‘GODISLOVE’. A £99 entry fee cuts away much of that, and prevents some of their longest fans from being able to attend.
Furthermore, the comms have – for once – been slightly messy. The build-up ramped up expectation, no doubt to create demand; but idents on social media describing ‘Africa’ as a country felt rushed. Alongside this, Sault insisted each ‘country’ would get one show each – the United States gets two, one for each coast.
Much of this wouldn’t matter, however, if it was anyone else. Put simply, Sault mean a lot. The mystery counts for a great deal of this – to this day, fans aren’t 100% who is even in Sault. The project is reputed to hinge on the imagination of Inflo, a generation-defining producer who has worked alongside Adele, while Cleo Sol – the two are married – is speculated to be the primary vocalist. Guests include Little Simz and Michael Kiwanuka, and that’s before we even attempt to break down Inflo’s orchestral manoeuvres.
But all that talent means that the margins are tight. To book a big enough venue in London – their home city – in December requires a lot of planning. To do so on an independent basis, means that no one is there to under-write the risk. It’s not as though Sault pop up on Coca-Cola commercials – if the art is paramount, then the commercial asks made of them have to be made in other ways.
It’s cruel, but the climate we’re operating in is far from fair. Sault made their name by placing their music on streaming – open, easily accessible, but ultimately not a great deal for artists. The vinyl drops may be a means of fans to show support, but the rapidly increasing cost of the physical artefact itself means that even this isn’t a perfect mode of exchange. The burden falls on the fan, but it also falls on artist – to do without, to persevere, and to make the economics work”.
CLASH make good points in their article. There is a massive cost of hiring a venue, doing the promotion and publicity. Then there is the crew and technical team. SAULT have to consider all the musicians and the fact they have orchestration and quite a big set. I shared the tweet by CLASH when they posted their article. Some rightly pointed out how we do not know what form the show will take in terms of the staging and length etc. There is also the fact that SAULT, largely, are a digital band. In the sense they release music digitally mostly – or have been putting a lot out for free. Even so, you can pre-order albums on vinyl now. I think that this is admirable when it comes to making their music accessible and affordable. I think this is more a case of the band wanting to keep some mystery and distance, rather than it being about the fans’ pockets. More change you’d need to promote an album if it came out physically? I see that they are in a difficult position. Costs in general are very high. Venues need to pay increasing rents. They are fighting to stay open. I know that many fans’ living costs are going up and they have less to spend on live music. It is a bind and quandary that has no easy solution. SAULT could lower the ticket price but compromise their structure and set. The venue also misses out too. I doubt there will be merchandise or any stalls set up so fans can buy the albums afterwards. Maybe keen to keep that mysterious aura and still give fans music, that will all be blown apart on Thursday.
It makes me think that the next move will be for SAULT. There is call and demand for physical release and a closer relationship with fans. They do not need to do TikTok videos and loads of interviews but, after this build-up and hype, they are so loved and popular that there is little chance they can keep anonymous and distant. I am not sure why they were more keen on digital releases. The fact that this might account for a high ticket cost is as good an argument against avoiding the physical market. In any case, it will be a huge event for fans who go and see them! Aside from some promotion and messaging that is a bit messy and flawed, the group will get a lot of love when they play Drumsheds. There is going to be undeniable quality on that stage. World-class singers, musicians and talent, there is richness and reward for those lucky enough to go! It is close to Christmas. So, in a hard year, this is a relief for so many. Something to look forward to! After all this time wondering who the group are and supporting their music, there will be this wonderful moment and night to remember! They are playing all-new music from an album nobody has heard yet. There is that exclusivity and rareness that might account for the ticket price. Maybe too the price will come down the more they perform. There is no magic ticket price. Whilst some artists can do a smaller set and thus impose lower prices, the more complex and full your stage is, the more that will cost artists – who need to pay a lot of people and pocket enough for themselves too. It is a year when ticket prices have been making news. Bad enough that ticket resale sites are charging extortionate amounts. Major artists who do these worldwide tours are charging three-figure sums for fans to see them. You have to balance the experience and costs involved versus the fact that many of the artists are making immense profit and could afford to lower the ticket prices.
SAULT are hardly on the same global level as some of the artists I am sure you know who I am referring to. I am glad that there will be this sort of ‘unveiling’. There has been some backlash against SAULT. I reacted angrily at first. I felt that, actually, this is a case of hype and them taking advantage of the fans. I still feel they had wiggle room to take the ticket price down a tad yet, if you consider who takes cuts from those ticket costs, how much goes to SAULT?! The venue gets some. There is taxation and all sorts of layers and people to pay before anything comes to SAULT. They may take a small piece of that £99+ ticket cost. When you factor all of that in, maybe they are not really the issue. It reflects more on the harshness of modern touring and the expense of hiring venues and putting on a memorable show. How many bodies go into making a gig when you think about it. Sadly, rising costs and people having less disposable income means there is this anger and disappointment. A feeling of being gouged. We cannot blame artists for the high costs. I am not sure how much say they have in pricing their own tickets and making that call. Rather than focus on SAULT as an example of a group taking a liberty, the revelation of their ticket prices opened up greater consideration around the point of artists’ pay. How much of a ticket sale goes to them. How many people get a cut. The realisation and reality is that that they have sold out their London show. Many will take that small financial sacrifice. It means that we do need to look closer at the live sector. Venues closing down and many struggling to remain afloat. There being this disparity when it comes to artists and ticket prices. In SAULT’s case, you have these supreme artists who will no doubt throw surprises and spectacle into their show on Thursday. It is going to be…
A night to remember.