How Does Spotify Help Touring?

To the dark side, and Spotify we go. But with purpose...

When I made One Way Out in April of 2022, and released it via a pre-sale and then exclusively through my website in May, I was posting a lot online about my disdain for Spotify and streaming services in general.

Just last week I made a post about how Spotify tries to lead all their “artists” down the garden path of deception at the end of each year by bombarding them with colorful slides containing lots of statistics, and making out how rosy their lives are as streaming artists.

Spotify: Solely For Profit and Not For Artists

Now the time has come to try and use Spotify, and all the other streaming services, as a tool rather than be used by them exclusively for profit.

I’ve uploaded One Way Out, my latest album as a band leader, to all streaming platforms. A move which I hope will have two main functions.

1. My music will be archived for the foreseeable future. Perhaps even forever? But either way, streaming the music to the world will act as a reference library for anyone curious about what I do or have done as an artist. It just won’t be uploaded or released to any of these platforms as the first step in presenting the music. Only after the lifecycle of the album in terms of revenue and dedicated fan engagement has run its course, will it be released for free to the general public.

2. Parking the music on all the major streaming services will act as a promotional tool for touring. I’ve discovered it’s rather difficult to promote or even book a tour, if you don’t have anything reasonably current available for potential promoters to listen to. My goal is to be able to lengthen the amount of time I’m able to let pass between the actual launch of an album, and when I eventually upload it for streaming. This time it was 8 months. I would love to get it to two years, and really give exclusive value to the fans for an extended period of time.

So with that explanation of this latest move out of the way, it’s time to ask you all for your feedback on countries, cities, and venues you would like to see the trio in during the 2023/24 touring season.

Please use the comments below to make your voice heard, and please be as specific as possible. “Come to Brazil!” is very kind, but ultimately impossible to do anything with. I love Brazil. I’ve played there dozens of times, and I will come back soon. But without the right connection between me, my booking agent, and the right space to play… you get the point.

Plans for this year include two trips to Europe. Some summer festivals and then a fall tour. We’re (me and my agent) also looking for more locations in Asia/SE Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Japan and China have been very slow to come back for touring post-pandemic, so it’s more challenging now that it has been previously to make a serious tour happen in that part of the world.

Right now we would love suggestions for Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand. We’re aware of pretty much all the major festivals at this point, so I really want to concentrate on the hippest clubs right now for new prospects.

An ideal location needs:

• 150-300 capacity

• An audience that is willing to pay at least $25-$30US per ticket

• Good backline

• In a major city, although that’s not a deal breaker if the audience is there

• Potential for a private hire - I’m willing to shoulder all the risk by renting a space and cutting out the middle people, if I know the audience is there.

Let me know in the comments below. I want to make sure I visit at least 10 new places with my band this year, and after 25 years on the road that’s a major challenge for you to help with!

Enjoy the new music, keep crushing your physical, mental, and musical health goals, and I hope to visit your city soon.

Janek