Topic
A four-piece band now pays about $5,400 in US government fees before it plays a note, and most of that is premium processing that waits of nearly a year make hard to avoid. We add up the O and P visa bill from USCIS and State Department sources, and look at who it shuts out.
Industryvia US Citizenship and Immigration Services
Kenshi Yonezu's anime film theme "IRIS OUT" topped Billboard JAPAN's first-half 2026 chart after reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Global 200, the highest yet for a Japanese-language song. Japan's trade ministry puts the music industry's 2024 overseas income at ¥72.58bn, and most of the money it can trace arrives as streams, not sync fees. The lesson for artists anywhere is that a placement is where discovery starts, and the money comes later.
Industryvia Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)
Pussycat Dolls, Meghan Trainor, Zayn and Post Malone with Jelly Roll all cut US dates this spring as unsold seats showed up as blue dots on Ticketmaster maps. Live Nation says demand is at record levels, so the real story is which tours were sized and priced past their audience, and who absorbs the loss when they fold.
Industryvia Live Nation Entertainment
Los Campesinos! itemised every cost of their 2024 North American tour. On ticket income alone the 11 shows lost about £2,000; merch turned that into a profit of roughly £38,000, which pays for the band's next project, not wages. That is why venue merch cuts decide whether tours like this work.
Industryvia Los Campesinos! (Substack)
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