If the music market desires a future filled with headliners, it should begin by paying its opening acts today
Among the music market’s worst-kept tricks is that opening acts are hardly ever paid relatively. Throughout clubs, celebrations, and even global trips, more youthful artists are anticipated to carry out for little or absolutely nothing, with the pledge of “direct exposure” hung as settlement. It’s a worldwide issue, however in India– where securities are practically nonexistent– the practice is particularly harmful.
In 2024, The News Minute reported how independent bands and artists throughout India continue to have a hard time in ticketed show markets, frequently playing to half-empty places in spite of the craze that surrounds worldwide imitate Coldplay. That space highlights a main reality: direct exposure does not instantly equate into profession development or monetary security. For numerous opening acts, these unsettled or underpaid slots produce more stress than chance.
The pattern corresponds throughout India’s live music economy. Everybody else in the chain– the headliner, promoter, location, sponsors, and team– is made up for their work. Opening acts are the exception. They practice, take a trip, and carry out, however frequently leave with extremely little or absolutely nothing. The presumption is that they are “fortunate” to share an expense, when in truth, they are funding the market with overdue labor.
This imbalance mirrors broader patterns in the Indian music community. Session artists and backing singers– the unnoticeable hands behind chart-topping tunes– are still not getting royalties or credit, despite the fact that their work drives industrial hits. Organization Standard reported previously this year that “numerous session artists in India still stop working to get royalty and credit.” A June 2025 Radio & & Music piece echoed the exact same issue, keeping in mind how unrecognized hitmakers behind Bollywood and Punjabi hits stay overdue. If even shown factors to hits are being underestimated, it is little surprise that opening acts are anticipated to work for totally free.
The wider cash circulation is indisputable. The Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) reported a 42% dive in collections in FY 2024– 25, crossing 700 crore in efficiency royalties. Plainly, there is cash in the system– the concern is how it is dispersed. The truth that opening acts still leave unsettled programs simply how manipulated top priorities are.
Worldwide, the circumstance is a little much better. In the U.K., the Musicians’ Union releases advised minimum rates– ₤ 189.55 for a single gig in a place under 200 capability, plus rehearsal pay– however grassroots artists frequently report being used far less. A London School of Economics research study discovered jazz artists throughout London and Paris were still routinely made use of through low pay and unsteady agreements. Even in industrialized markets, opening acts stay the most precarious link in the chain.
This is why the concept of a base pay for live efficiencies is past due. It does not need to be elegant nor consistent throughout continents, however there need to be a standard under which charges can not fall. Whether it’s 10,000 for a club slot in India or ₤ 150 in a UK bar, a base pay would acknowledge that constructing a profession takes some time and accuracy– however artists still require to pay lease along the method.
There are convenient methods to execute it. Promoters might designate a little portion of ticket sales to every act upon the costs, not simply the headliner. Sponsors might allocate a part of budget plans for supporting skill, reframing it as cultural financial investment. Locations might bundle minimum artist payments into bar sales, making sure that even little nights do not leave openers unsettled. Ticketing platforms like SkillBox, District, and BookMyShow might develop minimum artist costs into their registration systems. None of these options are extreme– they are modifications that show professionalism.
The counterarguments recognize: margins are thin, tickets are underpriced, and audiences are still establishing. Those arguments do not validate overdue work. If young artists can not pay for to sustain themselves, the pipeline of future headliners dries up. India’s indie and hip-hop waves of the previous years produced lots of appealing names, however lots of vanished due to monetary instability long before they reached their peak. Internationally, the attrition rate is comparable. When just the fortunate can pay for to work for totally free, variety suffers and the market’s future diminishes.
Modification will need more than goodwill. Artists require to feel empowered to require reasonable payment rather of accepting “direct exposure” as a default. Supervisors need to set minimum expectations and decline offers that damage them. Promoters and celebrations require to see settlement not as charity however as a financial investment in their own environments. And market bodies– from IPRS in India to unions abroad– should release standard standards, simply as the U.K.’s Musicians’ Union does. Openness alone would offer young acts utilize in settlements.
Let’s be sincere here, direct exposure does not foot the bill. Up until the music market accepts this and institutes a base pay for entertainers, opening acts will stay the most underestimated employees in music. And with every artist evaluated of their own profession, the future of live music gets smaller sized.