Why your favourite artist isn’t touring in your city - What in the World podcast, BBC World Service

Key Concepts

• Residency: A concert series where an artist performs multiple shows at a single venue over an extended period, rather than traveling to different cities.
• World Tour: A traditional touring model involving constant travel across multiple time zones, cities, and countries.
• Sustainability (Artist/Environmental): The balance between physical/mental health for performers and the carbon footprint associated with logistics and travel.
• Fan Accessibility: The economic and logistical burden placed on fans who must travel to a central location to see an artist.

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1. Main Topics and Key Points

The music industry is witnessing a shift where major global artists (e.g., Bad Bunny, Harry Styles, Beyoncé) are opting for residencies over traditional world tours.

• Operational Efficiency: Residencies eliminate the need to constantly pack, transport, and reassemble massive stage productions, reducing logistical strain on crews.
• Artist Well-being: By staying in one location, artists avoid the exhaustion of constant travel and time-zone changes, potentially leading to better vocal health and performance quality.
• Economic Impact: Residencies can act as major tourism drivers for host cities, as seen with Bad Bunny’s residency in Puerto Rico, which generated hundreds of millions of dollars for the local economy.

2. Real-World Applications and Examples

• Harry Styles: Known for extended runs, such as 12 nights at Wembley (London) and 30 nights at Madison Square Garden (New York).
• Beyoncé: Utilized a hybrid approach, performing six nights in London and three in Paris during her Cowboy Carter tour.
• Celine Dion: Cited as a long-standing example of the residency model, with a 16-night run in Paris.
• Bad Bunny: His Puerto Rico residency served as a case study for how a single-venue event can boost a local economy through tourism.

3. Perspectives and Arguments

• The "Pro-Residency" Argument: Artists and some fans argue that residencies allow for more immersive, personalized stage designs and a more sustainable career path for the performer.
• The "Anti-Residency" Argument: Critics, including artists like CMAT, argue that touring is a necessary "suffering" that fosters creativity by forcing artists to perform for diverse, unfamiliar audiences rather than just a "home crowd."
• The Fan Burden: Fans express mixed feelings. While they support the artist's health, they note that the model shifts the financial and travel burden onto the audience, potentially excluding those who cannot afford to travel to a major city.

4. Notable Quotes

• CMAT: "I do think you have to bring stuff to people. There's something about learning how to play in front of different audiences... learning the differences between that makes creativity a bit more fertile. You've got to suffer."
• Giulia (Fan): "While residencies are great for artists and production, they can feel kind of unfair to fans... if fans are the ones making that extra effort and spending more money, the least artists could do is lower ticket prices."

5. Environmental and Economic Considerations

• Climate Impact: Residencies are generally considered more environmentally friendly than world tours because they significantly reduce the carbon footprint associated with transporting crews, equipment, and artists across the globe.
• Ticket Pricing: While artists save on logistics, they still face high production costs to maintain the quality of a stadium-level show. Consequently, ticket prices remain high, and the savings from reduced travel are not necessarily passed on to the consumer.

6. Synthesis and Conclusion

The shift toward residencies represents a strategic evolution in the music industry, prioritizing artist longevity and production quality over the traditional, grueling world tour model. While this transition offers clear benefits for the environment and the physical health of performers, it creates a "fan-centric" challenge regarding accessibility and cost. The consensus is that while residencies will become more common as a "spiced up" alternative, they are unlikely to completely replace the world tour, as the latter remains essential for reaching global audiences and fostering artistic growth through diverse performance environments.