Artists including Self Esteem and Jayda G discuss the year’s biggest stories, from Stormzy’s landmark Glastonbury gig to industry problems with abuse
In January, a £288m concert hall was announced for
London, but 35% of
UK venues have closed in the past decade. Is it getting harder for artists who are starting out to find small places to tour?
Natasha Khan (Bat for Lashes): I started out in Brighton in 2006, and at that time there were still a lot of cool little indie record shops and small underground venues. Almost all those record shops are now gone and the venues … I feel like now they have to have a cinema or put on other kinds of events. There are fewer of those shows that promoters would put on with your friends, where you’d make posters yourself. Maybe that whole DIY thing has been undermined by the instantaneous social media thing.