In a series of posts, Jack Antonoff of Bleachers discussed how the monopolized extravagant taxation of merchandise sales when touring can mean the death of the career of young artists who are just starting off. Antonoff holds the same reservations towards music venues’ unnecessary extrapolation of funds from struggling artists as“the sustainability of post-pandemic touring has been hotly debated in recent months, especially with what Lorde called the “demented struggle to break even or face debt” (Consequence Sound).

 On November 18th, Antonoff tweeted, “while we are having the discussion can venues simply stop taxing merch of artists? this is literally the only way you make money when you start out touring.”  Antonoff then went on to provide potential answers to this imposed financial crisis in the midst of his aggravated flurry of rage. According to Antonoff, a few “simple solutions” would be to “stop taxing merch, stop lying to artists about costs of putting on shows, [and] include artists in more areas of revenue. the stories I could tell from my years touring are bananas. young artists on tour are the last to see any money.” 

As the artist says, “the more we make it tenable for young and small artists to make a living on the road, the more great music we will get” In doing so, he urges venus to put their greed and financial corruption aside so that these institutions can inherently pursue and achieve their main purpose: disseminate music in an accepting space where fans can gather and young artists can actually make money doing what they love most.

See all of Antonoff’s tweets about the subject below. 

touring is one of the most honest ways to make a living. some of the hardest and most heartfelt work you can do. so why must fuck artist so hard?

— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) November 18, 2022

while we are having the discussion can venues simply stop taxing merch of artists? this is literally the only way you make money when you start out touring

— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) November 18, 2022

the more we make it tenable for young and small artists to make a living on the road the more great music we will get

— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) November 18, 2022

simpel solutions, stop taxing merch, stop lying to artists about costs of putting on shows, include artists in more areas of revenue. the stories i could tell from my years touring are bananas. young artists on tour are the last to see any money.

— jackantonoff (@jackantonoff) November 18, 2022

Jack Antonoff, along with Haim, Laura Dern, and others, had cameos in Taylor Swift’s new video for the single “Bejeweled” off her latest album Midnights.

Jack Antonoff also recently called out Kanye West for his antisemitic comments.

Photo Credit: Sharon Alagna