Grizzly Bear frontman Ed Droste has said the band is “basically losing money” despite performing to “huge crowds down under”, as they kick off their 2018 Australian tour.
Taking to his Instagram story on Monday, Droste described the music industry as “fucked”.
“People always ask, ‘Why aren’t you coming to Perth, Singapore, Quito… And I’m trying to explain there is no value put on live music anymore,” he said.
“We feel it’s important to bring with us the fullest show we can with all live instruments and a good light show. But now, when you cut out record sales and we haven’t had a car commercial in ages, we literally lose money.”
Droste went on to posit that changes in the music industry are “destroying bands that play music that are mid tier or lower”.
“Nobody cherishes or puts any value into the craft that goes into songwriting, or studying music! Yes pop stars write hits. Yay,” he said.
“They also get branding deals, and corp gigs… but when you are dealing with a dying industry and you actually care about a real live show and you aren’t a star, there’s not much you can do.
“I could go on forever but I won’t. Enjoy it while it lasts. I think we are about to enter a live music drought… TBD.”
Grizzly Bear are scheduled to begin their Australian tour at Adelaide Festival tonight, before performing in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, as well as sets at A Festival Called Panama and Golden Plains.
Interestingly, earlier this week, a post on the Grizzly Bear Twitter account said the band are “not sure we’ll ever be back” to New Zealand, where they performed earlier this month.
Catch screenshots of Ed Droste’s Instagram story below, and all the details of Grizzly Bear’s 2018 Australian tour right here.
UPDATE: Droste has shared another series of images on Instagram, sharing his thoughts on “absurd” ticket prices and not wanting fans to feel bad. View the images below.
(Some screenshots via Brooklyn Vegan)
