Over 280,000 people signed a petition calling for visa-free touring for UK bands through the EU. The campaign was also debated in the parliament, but it all ended in the UK government essentially ignoring the idea and doubling down on the EU being at fault, NME reports. The Conservative Minister for Culture Caroline Dineage did not suggest that negotiating visa-free touring was an option and repeated that “the UK pushed for ambitious arrangements” but that “quite simply the EU rejected this and there was no counter offer”.

"Like Hamburg to the Beatles, Europe was crucial to our growth as a band. It allowed us to see ourselves untethered from our UK roots and to imagine a life in music that could reach audiences everywhere" - Radiohead's Colin Greenwood wrote in Guardian about the big bureaucratic wall now erected between the UK and the EU. Elton John, also in Guardian, is worried about young bands: "I don’t want to live in a world where the only artists who can afford to tour properly are those who have been going for decades and have already sold millions of records".

DJ Mag breaks down what the current rules post-Brexit mean for the UK-based artists touring in the EU, the EU-based artists touring in the UK, as well as for the roadies and tour-bus owners. There are also changes affecting event promoters.

"British musicians, dancers, actors and their support staff have been shamefully failed by their government" - the letter signed by over 100 UK musicians sent to their government said, after the official London confirmed it had turned down an EU offer that would have enabled frictionless touring. Sir Elton John, Liam Gallagher, Sir Simon Rattle, Sting, Brian May, Radiohead, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Roger Daltrey, Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis. and Nicola Benedetti are among 110 artists who have signed the open letter. Everyone on a European music tour will now need costly work permits for many countries they visit and a mountain of paperwork for their equipment, Sky reports.

Emerging artists are facing “massive competition” from classic acts such as Queen and the Beatles on streaming services - the UK MPs from Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee inquiry into the economics of music streaming have been told. Peter Leathem, the CEO of music copyright collective PPL, said that musicians at the start of their careers have “got the last 50 years of the music industry to compete with” on digital platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, BBC reports.

It was the UK government's choice to end visa-free touring for musicians in the EU, officials in Brussels told the BBC. The EU says that it was London who "refused" a plan that would have let musicians tour without visas. "From last March, we made fairly ambitious proposals in terms of mobility, including for specific categories such as journalists, performers, musicians and others" - the EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said, but the UK didn't agree on it. Since Brexit, British musicians and crews may need extra work permits to play in certain European countries such as Germany and Spain.

“We sought a mutually beneficial agreement that would have allowed performers to continue working and perform across the continent without the need for work permits" - the UK culture secretary Oliver Dowden told NME about Brexit negotiations with the EU regarding work permits for musicians. However, Dowden claims "musicians, artists, entertainers and support staff would have been captured through the list of permitted activities for short-term business visitors. This was a straightforward solution for our creative industries which would have benefited all sides. But the EU turned it down, repeatedly. It did not propose and wouldn’t accept a tailored deal for musicians and artists". The Independent got unofficial information from the EU side that it was the UK who didn't agree to a special agreement for musicians.

The EU offered the UK visa-free tours by British musicians to EU countries, but the UK government refused it, the liberal London paper Independent reports. A “standard” proposal to exempt performers from the huge cost and bureaucracy for 90 days was turned down, because the government is insisting on denying that to EU artists visiting this country.

Under the Brexit deal, British musicians planning to play in Europe will now have to secure work permits for each individual country on a tour and face further red tape when it comes to transporting equipment and crew - Guardian reports about worries of industry figures and artists after the UK has finally divorced from the EU. Work permits were going to be a particular problem when touring with larger classical groups since there could be dozens of musicians needing to get a work permit. UK artists have already been calling for the government to possibly renegotiate a free culture work permit for UK performers in the EU.

The UK government has announced that it had tried to secure better conditions for UK touring musicians during the Brexit negotiations, but the EU rejected its proposals, BBC reports. From 1 January, free movement of people between the UK and the EU will end, which means that touring musicians and their technical crews will face new rules, and could be subject to additional visa costs and paperwork. UK nationals will need a visa for stays of longer than 90 days in a 180-day period, and there will be restrictions on their activities. Spain, Italy and Denmark will require additional work permits.

“The gigging lifestyle - where musicians are freelancing from one independent job to another - I don’t know if that’s going to be around in New York after this. You’ll probably see some 'Mad Max' scenario where the young guys claw their way to survival” - Spike Wilner, the owner of two New York jazz clubs Mezzrow and Smalls, says in a Curbed interview. “Every jazz club that presents music is part of a chain, like a food chain, supplying life force to this community”, Wilner said, adding - “when the environment dries up, less and less animals are allowed to live”.

A No Deal Brexit will have a potentially "catastrophic" impact on the UK music industry because most of the British musicians would be unable to afford to tour the EU, NME reports. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned that the UK should prepare for a No Deal Brexit when the transition period ends on January 1, which would mean new rules, tariffs and restrictions, making it much harder for smaller and middle-size bands to cross the channel.

Visas for foreign artists looking to tour in the United States are going up around 50% and include P and O visas which are the ones most foreign artists get and allow them to return to the U.S. within one and three years, NME reports. The O visa, which is for “Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement”, will go from  $460 to $705, while the P visa, which is often used for family members of those individuals, will go up to $695. Wait times for visa will increase to 15 days, though there is a fast-track service for $1000. The new fees and policy changes go into effect October 2.

The Route explains some of the phrases frequently used in music industry:

Routing: The way multiple shows are looped together by an agent or promoter to make geographical sense

Versus Deal: An agent and a promoter make a deal where the band gets a basic fee (called a guarantee) and then gets a percentage (normally 80-85%) of the profit made from ticket sales

PDs: Amount of money an artist gets per day (usually 10 or 20 pounds) to cover daily expenses; food, drink, toothpaste, cigarettes

Rider: An assortment of snacks, water, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages that are requested by a touring band at the venue

Some great thoughts on touring, and lack thereof, by Rosanne Cash in The Atlantic: "The essential attitude adopted by most touring musicians I know - just show up and do it, and don’t whine about the lack of sleep, the equipment problems, the long drives, the missed meals, the airports, the delayed flights, the sometimes-weird audiences, the stalkers, the reviews, the food, or the hotel... I’ve long had a complicated relationship with touring, and the pandemic has made it only more difficult. I always knew what life on the road was costing me. But I didn’t fully appreciate what it gave me until suddenly it was gone".

Vulture talked to dozens of artists about what the mass-cancellation of tours will mean to them. Frazey Ford summed it up pretty well: "The U.S. tour isn’t a huge financial loss to us, but we have a big tour in Europe scheduled for May that will be a big loss, especially to my band members, who rely heavily on touring. It’s also a loss of joy. Times are so tenuous already that an evening of music can be healing and bonding".

Tame Impala have announced a partnership with the nonprofit REVERB in adopting eco-friendly initiatives, in order to reduce environmental waste while on tour, Happy Mag reports. The collaboration will include free filtered water refill stations at shows to reduce single-use plastic waste, Eco-Villages where fans can learn more about environmental nonprofits, and the band will fund projects that eliminate greenhouse gases, donate unused food and hotel toiletries to local shelters, recycle backstage and on tour buses, use reusable water bottles for all band members and crew, and more.

An awful lot of the Austin economy depends on the festival, and its cancelation would affect a lot more than just the attendees, Texas Monthly argues in favor of going ahead with plans to hold South by Southwest this year (25,000 people have signed a petition to cancel it). People that depend on SXSW are - "caterers, pedicabbers, ride-hailing drivers, bartenders and servers, tech crew and security staff, and countless others who rely on SXSW as a windfall to pay off bills and get their heads above water each year. A whole host of bars and restaurants are able to weather the slow winter months because they know that, come March, rental fees and prepaid bar tabs will keep them afloat. Hotels and pizza places and portable-toilet rental companies have developed alongside SXSW".

Since the start of this year, Ozzy Osbourne, 71, had to cancel his 2020 tour to seek treatment. Elton John, 72, had to ditch dates after declaring himself “extremely unwell”. Madonna, 61, was forced to scratch a bunch of shows due to “overwhelming pain”. Aerosmith had to scratch dates due to various health issues experienced by Steven Tyler. The 56-year-old frontman of Metallica, James Hetfield, needed to cancel shows to look after his health. Beforehand, Paul Simon stopped touring at 78, Bob Seger at 74, Kiss aged between 68 to 70, Neil Diamond at 79, and Eric Clapton at 74. Guardian is trying to find consequences of this change, and it's quite simple. According to Pollstar, five out of the top 10 worldwide tours of the last year featured band members over the age of 50, which makes them the cornerstone of touring, especially since the audience who attends shows by older stars has the deepest pockets, raising profits for everyone. In general, the touring industry is generally estimated to generate between $50-60bn worldwide.

Avril Lavigne has canceled her Asian tour due to coronavirus fears - it was set to begin on April 23, and it would have included stops in China, Japan, Philippines and Taiwan. Canadian rock group Wolf Parade canceled their European and U.K. dates, Billboard reports. Ultra Abu Dhabi has also been canceled in the shadow of coronavirus. According to EDM Tunes, many other events in the UAE are revising their outlooks. Thousands of people have signed a petition to have SXSW canceled, but the organizers of Austin-Texas hipster-fest said the show will go on. The Outline has a message for them: "The organizers of SXSW have a chance to be double heroes: not only could they possibly save lives by canceling their event, but they could save us all the inanity of hearing about it".

Green Day have postponed their scheduled tour of Asia, which was due to kick early next month, amid fears of coronavirus, Billboard reports. BTS canceled several shows in their native South Korea due to the alarming spread of coronavirus, while New Order announced they’d put their upcoming shows in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan “on hold” for the time being.

One of the biggest annual K-pop concerts in the U.S., The Korea Times Music Festival scheduled for April 25 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles has been postponed due to fears over coronavirus, CBS LA reports. The annual musical festival, which is in its 18th year, had already announced the likes of K-pop girl group MOMOLAND, solo singer and former Wanna One member Ha Sungwoon and rock band No Brain. Coronavirus also led to cancellation of the Korean Music Awards and Stormzy has postponed tour dates in Asia, as NME reported.

New technologies have made planning and booking a tour easier than ever, as well made it quite simple for fans to find out about tours. Latest edition of radio & podcast show The Future of What was about these new technologies: BandsInTown - a website listing shows; RoadNation - a platform where band can generate revenue in advance of their tour, and identify where to play by giving fans the power to choose the cities; Parlour Gigs - brings artists fo their fans' homes; Show4Me - allows fans to interact with artists in a sort of social media fan club.

Concert promoter and ticketing company Live Nation shares fell 8% on Monday, over fears the coronavirus is not contained, Billboard reports. Ryman Hospitality - the owner of Grand Ole Opry and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium - was down 5.8%. The Madison Square Garden Company fell by 2.4%.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse are planning a tour in support of their latest album 'Colorado', so they started booking some "barns". As they explain on the Neil Young Archives website - "many of the old places we used to play are gone now, replaced by new coliseums we have to book year in advance and we don’t want to go to anyway". Apart from that, "largely soulless, these new buildings cost a fortune to play in... We don’t like the new rules. So we asked for the old arenas where we used to play, and we learned [that a huge amount of them are demolished, but many are also still standing]. Among those on their list of arenas still standing: MSG, Forum, Nassau Coliseum, Long Beach Arena, Cow Palace, Chicago Arena, Nashville Municipal Auditorium".

Musicians from EU countries will require work visas to play in the UK starting from next year, following the end of the Brexit transition period this December. The rule means that bands, DJs, solo musicians and their crews will all require Tier 5 visas in order to play gigs, festivals and club nights in the UK. It costs around £1,000 per band member from the UK/EU to obtain a visa, which takes a lot of preparation and can take months to get approved.

Since the beginning of indie-rock scene in the 1980s, bands have usually been putting out albums every two years, but within the last year-and-a-half, artists on indie labels like Domino, Polyvinyl, Sup Pop, Barsuk, Saddle Creek, and Matador have been putting out music at a more frequent rate - every couple of months there's something - single, EP, song for compilation - coming out. “People used to tour to support music, and now people put music out to support tours” - as indie musician Sasami Ashworth told Billboard. Polyvinyl Label Director Seth Hubbard shares her sentiment - “The model of never going away does seem to be like the new normal... Now with Spotify being what it is, and social media being what it is, the reality for a lot of artists is that they need to tour more often to make a living".

In the last few decades, musicians have come to rely heavily on touring to generate revenue, and that means more travel, more concession stands, and more cars jammed into parking lots, which means more carbon in the atmosphere and more waste on the ground (and in the water). To limit their carbon footprint some bands have stopped touring (Coldplay), others are cooperating with Reverb, a nonprofit that supports musicians looking to neutralize or at least lessen the environmental impact of their work. Its premier service involves embedding a trained Reverb staff member within a band’s preëxisting crew, with the exclusive purpose of handling the logistics associated with running an environmentally responsible tour.

Extra expenses and added paperwork relating to Visas, taxation and transporting equipment and merchandise, caused by the UK's exit from the EU, will make touring Europe “completely unviable” for new and mid-level British artists. Tens of thousands have already signed a petition by the Musicians’ Union calling for a new passport that will allow acts and crew to travel freely between EU member states, ridding them of new required permits.

English indie-rock singer-songwriter Emmy the Great kept an on-tour diary on her latest tour while having a small baby touring with her. At her first concert "We are incredibly late for soundcheck. Then we are late getting to the hotel for the bedtime routine. Then I am late getting on stage because I was laundering […]