This week it was reported that Live Nation — citing "unprecedented times" and financial hardships of its own — would expect artists to take pay cuts and further financial responsibility when performing at future live events in 2021. Now, Exodus and Slayer guitarist Gary Holt is taking the world's largest concert promoter to task over its plan.
Sharing a screenshot of Rolling Stone's initial report alongside some of Live Nation's earning numbers prior to the pandemic, Holt concluded that the promoter's moves to saddle artists with more of a financial risk was "lame."
"So Live Nation has decided life has been hard on them," Holt wrote in an Instagram post. "So now they're gonna pay artist 20 percent less, only pay 25 percent when a promoter cancels, versus the usual 100 percent, but if you cancel they want double your guarantee back. And 30 percent of your merch to go with it. This could be the final nail in the rock and metal coffin. That lost 20 percent now comes out of a bands merch, which they take a bigger cut of. Satan forbid you have to cancel a show due to illness. Swipe to see how much these people made last year and see if your heart bleeds for their lost revenue."
Of Holt's coffin claim regarding genre popularity, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian added in the comments, "You know the A-list/festival headline acts won't take the cuts because without them there's no festival. The middle-class gets screwed."
"BINGO!!!!," Holt responded. "Headliners will get paid, we get pissed on, and will be expected to say thank you for the piss stream."
You can find Holt's Instagram post below.
As experts feel a full-scale return of live music is months away, more recent earning reports for Live Nation show revenues were down 20 percent year-on-year, concert revenue was down 25 percent (from $1.318 billion to $993.4 million), ticketing was down 16 percent and that fan attendance was down 6.2 percent.
Holt tested positive for COVID-19 this past March, but has since recovered.
Sharing a screenshot of Rolling Stone's initial report alongside some of Live Nation's earning numbers prior to the pandemic, Holt concluded that the promoter's moves to saddle artists with more of a financial risk was "lame."
"So Live Nation has decided life has been hard on them," Holt wrote in an Instagram post. "So now they're gonna pay artist 20 percent less, only pay 25 percent when a promoter cancels, versus the usual 100 percent, but if you cancel they want double your guarantee back. And 30 percent of your merch to go with it. This could be the final nail in the rock and metal coffin. That lost 20 percent now comes out of a bands merch, which they take a bigger cut of. Satan forbid you have to cancel a show due to illness. Swipe to see how much these people made last year and see if your heart bleeds for their lost revenue."
Of Holt's coffin claim regarding genre popularity, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian added in the comments, "You know the A-list/festival headline acts won't take the cuts because without them there's no festival. The middle-class gets screwed."
"BINGO!!!!," Holt responded. "Headliners will get paid, we get pissed on, and will be expected to say thank you for the piss stream."
You can find Holt's Instagram post below.
As experts feel a full-scale return of live music is months away, more recent earning reports for Live Nation show revenues were down 20 percent year-on-year, concert revenue was down 25 percent (from $1.318 billion to $993.4 million), ticketing was down 16 percent and that fan attendance was down 6.2 percent.
Holt tested positive for COVID-19 this past March, but has since recovered.
