Tinie Tempah’s large fear for future popstars as musicians wrestle to make ends meet
EXCLUSIVE rapper Tinie Tempah says he cant see a future for new artists who barely make a living from live shows let alone making new music, but he will never stop
Tinie Tempah fears popstars can no longer make ends meet
Tinie Tempah has an incredible seven No1 hits under his belt, and it’s a record not many will be able to match in the future, he fears.
Back with new single Living Life, Tinie is increasingly aware of how difficult it is to get your music heard and can’t see where the next festival headliners will come from. He says: “I worry about the next generation of artists and whether we are going to see as many artists that have ability to maintain longevity like the greats, the people that we all grew up listening to who were able to sustain careers for 20, 30, even 40 years, is that still going to be a thing?”
Making a living from music, even if you have charted, is an even bigger struggle.
“For an artist with a million streams, that’s about £3,500. How many artists are getting a million streams from their records?That’s what you need to ask yourself. You have to be in the top five percent to even be hitting those metrics and so if you’re not, what does that mean? Like, are you even able to earn a living off your music?”
With the closure of so many grassroots live venues, coupled with increasing costs and red tape, playing live is equally as difficult.
“Live before used to be where everyone would be able to earn a bit, that’s where you’d see the upside. Even if you were just doing a pop tour and you were getting 500 quid a show cash in hand. That was the thing that lots of people would look forward to.
“But now with our venues closing, there may be no potential for that in the near future. What a world it will be if that is the case.”
Living Life is a throwback to a pre-digital world. “I definitely wanted to highlight the importance of high-energy music, the frequency, it makes you want to be out, the whole idea of movement, dancing, getting the serotonin going and the endorphins chemically and biologically what that actually does to you.”
The South Londoner recently fronted the Last Night Out campaign launched with the Night-Time Industries Association to revive the UK’s declining nightlife scene.
“Being in a space with people maybe you wouldn’t usually speak to is important,” he says. “When one song comes on that means something to you in a club and means something to someone else who you’d never have an interaction with otherwise, and it could be the thing that brings you together.
“Social media has been great to me, but sometimes I worry about people going out, talking and getting someone’s number or dealing with a bit of rejection.”
He hopes the music landscape won’t always be so bleak.
“I still believe music has such a power. The way people live their lives has changed and the way people consume music to a certain degree has changed, but music is still music, it’s still the soundtrack to people’s lives.
“It still has the power to evoke emotions, take you back, spark a memory of some sort, make you feel something in your belly.
“I’m fortunate to have been able to have a few records that are still being played to this day, that kind of do that for people.”
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