The rise of ‘non-traditional’ revenue streams

As the cost of touring increases and recording revenue slumps, artists are increasingly supplementing their income with ‘non-traditional’ revenue streams.

At the recent ILMC Futures Forum, moderator Caroline Reason (MATA Agency), along with Linda Maitland (Atlas Artists), Rhys France (CAA) and Shelley Frost (Fridge Entertainment), came together to discuss “game-changing” sources of income.

The panel, Show Me The Money: Alternative Revenue Streams, dived into brand deals, corporate events and VIP upgrades for developing and mid-tier artists.

Private and corporate events
Maitland, an artist manager for the likes of Rachel Chinouriri, Celeste and Gabriels, said she has become “heavily reliant” on corporate and private events to subsidise the cost of touring for her clients.

“These kinds of events are essential for the business – some artists would really struggle without them,” she said. “You don’t make that much money from live unless you’re at a certain level but even when you do, you want to put it back into production and build the quality of the show in order to get more shows. So it’s very, very difficult to make a profit.”

CAA corporate and private events booker Rhys France added that opportunities for non-public-facing events come in all shapes and sizes. “Private and corporate shows are very scalable. We signed a performance-based deal with Troye Sivan and H&M that included a 30-minute performance for invited guests only. That was a huge production – an arena-scale kind of performance with backing dancers and his whole crew.

“Private and corporate events are essential for the business – some artists would really struggle without them”

“We also did a deal that involved Jorja Smith performing an acoustic set at a gala dinner for Chanel with 100 guests, and another for Gok Wan to DJ at an event for Screw Fix.”

Shelley Frost, founder of Dubai-based independent artist and entertainment agency Fridge Entertainment, said artists are increasingly relying on the MENA region for corporate and private shows.

“We see a number of artists from the UK specifically, but also from Europe, who manage to supplement their income by popping over on a regular basis – not just for one-offs but perhaps spending three months there during season,” she said. “A fabulous singer called Emma Smith finds this [region] a really useful stop in her year. Some artists find it so lucrative that they will end up being based there permanently. It’s a very forward-thinking, dynamic, edgy market and its growth is not going to stop.”

Reason also pointed out that while corporate and private events can help with artist development, they can also prolong an artist’s career.

“There a lot of artists out there who actually can’t sell tickets anymore but can have a lot of success with private and corporate shows,” she added.

“Opportunities with brands that can allow us to maybe make a bit of profit [on tour]”

While non-public-facing events may be a lucrative revenue stream for artists, they’re not always the best experience for artists.

Maitland said: “I prepare my artists for the worst-case scenario where everyone is talking and no one is going to pay any attention to you.”

Frost agreed, adding that how these kinds of events are brokered is vital to ensure that artists can maintain a level of integrity: “We often try to avoid long sets or will steer a client away from having an artist present during dinner time and perhaps have something as an opener or focus on 15 memorable minutes rather than 45 or minutes or an hour-long set.”

Brand deals
Moving on to other left-of-live revenue streams for artists, the panel discussed how brand deals can be “vital” for independent artists looking to cover some costs.

“Rachel [Chinouriri] was going to support Remi Wolf last year but we had to cancel the tour because we were losing too much money,” Maitland explained. “A high street brand has now offered us the amount of money we’d need to do a US tour if Rachel wears some of the outfits on stage. It’s those opportunities with brands that can allow us to maybe make a bit of profit and if the brand alignment works, then it’s a win for everyone.”

“We can all go out there and hunt for that show or store opening or product launch but they are difficult to find”

Maitland is also working with a fashion house to offset styling fees for her client Celeste.

“They might create an outfit and then we have three of those outfits and she can just wear that over the summer,” she explained. “That really helps because styling fees are so massive. Artists are expected to wear a different outfit for every show, which makes it very expensive when you’re touring so these deals make a massive difference.”

The Catch-22 with brand deals, Reason pointed out, is that they’re hardest to secure when artists are developing and therefore need them the most.

“We often get calls from managers or agents looking to get that extra date in for the tour to tip it into a profit-making tour,” said Reason. “We can all go out there and hunt for that show or store opening or product launch but they are difficult to find. It’s a hustle.”

Maitland continued: “And then you might have a brand come along that you’re not aligned with. But you’re working with a developing artist and they’re going to pay you £20,000 – I can do a whole EP campaign with that. So the conflict is: do you take that money from a brand you don’t align with, but then you can put out your whole project?”

“A little VIP package for an extra £30-40 changed our tour from a loss-making tour into a profit-making tour”

Frost added: “Brands are far more keen today to link in with an artist whose values they align with and we’re finding in the Middle East that doesn’t necessarily need to be an A-list artist.”

Another challenge is weighing up exclusivity clauses and whether the deal is worth missing out on other opportunities with brands.

“We’ve just done a deal with a tech company where the artist can’t do anything with any other tech companies for a year,” said Maitland. “So you have to ask yourself whether you’re jeopardising a lot of future deals when you’re going to be in a much better position.”

VIP upgrades
Another vital non-traditional revenue stream that can help developing artists make a profit on tour is VIP upgrade, Maitland told delegates.

“We were losing money for Rachel’s [Chinouriri] UK tour last November and we didn’t want to just go to the label and ask for tour support – I think it’s really integral that we build our artists’ live business in a way that’s not depending on that – so we added VIP that would give people access to watch her during sound check, early access to merch and lanyard,” said Maitland.

“It was just a little package for an extra £30-40 and that changed our tour from a loss-making tour into a profit-making tour. Now we’ve just put on sale the US tour, which has sold out very quickly. We’ve upgraded the venues and added on the VIP and that’s allowed Rachel to tour in the US, otherwise, would be struggling to get out there.”

Show Me The Money: Alternative Revenue Streams took place at ILMC Futures Forum on Friday 28 February 2025 at Royal Lancaster London.

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