Brad Byrd’s decades-long career placed him on stages, small and large, but mostly small, in clubs, bars and people’s homes across the country. In the past, he’s been represented by agents and bookers, but these days he goes it alone. He explained that his fans serve as his booking agents, and it works well. “I say, if you want me to come to your town, book me a show in your favorite spot,” which has been a surprisingly successful approach. If you can pull it off. It isn’t easy.

The Southern California-based artist has a tour coming up, which, until recently, included a stop at The 5 Spot, the beloved, intimate club in East Nashville. He secured a solid Saturday night date, the middle time slot and was told to fill the rest of the bill with local acts, promote the show and sell the tickets — with no guarantee. He agreed to the terms and got moving on with the rest of the insane number of things a touring musician needs to deal with on a daily basis, in addition to this task list.

Byrd took his frustrations with the general state of the world to social media, firing off a Thread about the industry, stating in short: If you call yourself a music venue, pay artists enough money to cover costs and give them a burger.

According to Byrd, this led to his show at The 5 Spot being canceled.

“Two days later, I got a message from [the booker] that said, ‘due to your offensive Threads post, I have to cancel the show,’” he told Saddle Mountain Post. “What I think happened here is that a bigwig in the Nashville scene got rubbed the wrong way.”

The 5 Spot didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on this matter.

Byrd is nervous to announce the rest of his tour because he’s concerned the folks behind the scenes will get in touch with these other places. While it is unlikely that the so-called bigwigs will drop the dime, as these bookers and others at the venues are stretched just as thin as artists, it underscores the difficulties small artists and venues face in this environment.

The symbiotic relationship between artist and venue has shifted in an adversarial direction. The real consumer of that value is the fan, and without both the music and the location, the fan cannot participate in this market. The system is killing itself.

The Bigger Picture

Chasen Wayne, the talent buyer and venue manager for the Sagebrush in Austin, explained that the current economic situation is “pretty dire” for smaller and independent venues.

“The amount of work to just break even is incredible to shoulder,” he said.

“People aren’t drinking, which is good and bad, but no one wants to sit in a dark coffee shop while two-step lessons are happening. Most venues raise prices and take money from door sales, which impacts the artist’s bottom line, who is already operating at a loss.”

All of this hurts an artist’s ability to tour, forcing smaller venues to rely almost exclusively on local talent, which doesn’t yield significant growth for either the venues or the artists. Wayne laments that this situation leads to stagnant client growth and “a sense of being stuck.”

“None of this includes inflation that pushes everything down further.”

These kinds of venues are forced to work with brands to cover costs, keep staff small and get more creative with events and rentals, he said. But even this is getting more complicated.

“With the decline of alcohol sales, the alcohol sponsors we’ve relied upon have really struggled to keep up the sponsorships,” explained Dave Hofmann of Grand Ole Country Bunker, which develops and promotes country music shows and events across the Los Angeles area and in select other cities. “Bar managers can’t order enough product to keep the reps satisfied; the sponsors don’t see the value in keeping the money flowing for the music.”

“People still spend money, but they don’t spend money on the drinkin’,” Hofmann added. “At a time when we need to be upping the amount of money we pay musicians, people are spending less at the bar, while the bars are paying more per unit on bottles, which kind of destroys the entire system.”

It’s never been easy to be an artist or run a small business, but it does appear to be much harder now. Wayne puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of major labels, DSPs and mainstream artists.

“A small number of large artists absorb the vast majority of the income available by working with major companies that hold a monopoly on the system,” he said.

A stranglehold that might be loosening its grip — but to what end?

“Live Nation has price gouged its way to a near bubble collapse in slow motion.”

However, after it pops, where everything lands is a different question. If one pillar of the industry collapses, how will any kind of artist make enough money to live? I suppose the same way they always have — by making music they love for people willing to support it. If they can.

Inspiring stuff. But good vibes and living truth don’t put food on the table.

High Cost of Living Ain’t Nothing Like the Cost of Living on the Road

“There are so many atrocious gut-level punches for the blue-collar musicians,” complained Byrd.

It feels impossible to make this work today, according to Byrd. There was hope to make a living in the past, and Byrd is an example of success. Less so today.

“In general, smaller clubs feel like they are struggling to draw audiences and pay acts,” said Rose Lichtenfels of the Austin-based grassy two-stepping band Valley Flower, which has hit the circuit hard over the past three years.

From her perspective, efforts to streamline staffing and cut costs place a significant burden on emerging bands without management.

“We are trying to write music, release and promote music, rehearse, book and play shows, and also market the shows in other markets,” she said, alluding to the fact that the band’s efforts can cannibalize themselves in regions with multiple shows.

But Sean Burns, a Winnipeg, Manitoba-based bass player, front man and radio host, pushes back on this narrative.

The ever-direct Canadian believes this problem is a result of “too many shitty bands saturating the market” enabled by “a lack of discerning audiences.”

“Life isn’t easy. Making art isn’t easy. I am sickened by the constant whining and complaining that pepper my feed every week. Music owes you nothing. Give people a reason to want to see you.”

Building an audience takes time, and both artists and venues have to invest effort in promoting shows, explains Susan Hamilton, an assistant professor in the Department of Recording Industry at Middle Tennessee State University. 

“Even when everyone does the work, there’s no guarantee people will show up,” she told Saddle Mountain Post. “From a business standpoint, venues are often better off booking artists with a proven track record of selling tickets rather than taking a chance on an unknown act. If emerging artists can’t draw crowds, they can’t generate revenue for the venue, and the venue loses out. That’s simply how the business works – venues aren’t charities.”

In some ways, Hofmann aims to thread the needle between Burns’s hard-nosed approach and Hamilton’s business-minded reality. 

“The scene is strong enough to support these shows, but maybe there are too many, and people have to choose. I try to make any show I do feel like an event, so there is a feeling of urgency to support it.”

But providing something valuable enough at a fair, or even just affordable, price is incredibly difficult, notes country artist Olivia Ellen Lloyd. 

“We’re all on our phones too much and not paying attention to what is happening in our own backyards,”  said the Brooklyn-based musician. “Sometimes I’ll run through a town and hear from someone that they’re waiting for me to play in their city. I think Big Social Media platforms are benefitting from people staying home, and also assisting with marketing the idea that only stadium-level shows are happening.”

The Waymores, comprised of husband and wife duo Kira Annalise and Willie Heath Neal, recently announced that they were “bummed to share” that an upcoming show had “been canceled due to low advanced ticket sales” in a social media post. 

“The reality of touring 2026 is that advance ticket sales matter more than ever. Clubs use them to gauge staffing, costs and whether a show is financially sustainable. For independent touring artists like us, they often determine where a date can realistically stay on the books as part of a tour route.”

“We know times are tough and budgets are real. But if there’s an artist you love and you’re able to swing it, buying a ticket ahead of time truly makes a difference.”

And maybe spend a few dollars at the bar. If you can.