Kate Nash shares her vision for a ‘fixed music industry’ | Talent

Off the back of her Butts For Tour Buses campaign, Kate Nash has spelled out her vision for “fixing” the music industry.

The singer-songwriter made her breakthrough as a teenager in 2007 with her double platinum debut album Made Of Bricks (610,406 sales, OCC) and No.2 single Foundations (1,732,280). 

Nash has returned to prominence since launching an OnlyFans account to help fund her last tour, using her elevated platform to discuss the realities and financial struggles of hitting the road in 2025. She also became a patron of grassroots organisation the Music Venue Trust. 

“My heroes have always been people that are putting themselves at the forefront of something they believe in,” said Nash. “I think it’s important and it’s cool: what a way to make a statement and what a whirlwind it’s been. I’m basically an expert in being screwed over and [still] selling records, so I’m the perfect person to voice this.

“It’s innately who I am to be like, ‘Fuck it’ and put a brick through a window and kind of enjoy it,” she says. “But it’s not down to me solely to change the fucking industry and there are a lot of people with a lot more power than me who could do things that would really benefit us. Caring actually isn’t enough. If you profit from artists, what are you doing to help?”

Nash, whose fifth album 9 Sad Symphonies was released last summer via Kill Rock Stars, reflected on how the Butts For Tour Buses had changed her career as a recording and touring artist.

I feel in my power right now and I feel like I should use my voice to benefit people who’ve been screwed over, but also [to help] young people entering the industry

Kate Nash

“There has been a lot of highlighting around this specific campaign because of OnlyFans and how much attention it’s got,” she explained. “But I always talk about this: I’ve had a really successful record campaign, I’m back on a label, I just sold out the O2 Forum and I’m headlining Mighty Hoopla. I’m in the best place I’ve ever been emotionally, as a person and in my career. I’m experiencing growth for the first time in so long and this time it’s steady growth and not insane growth like when I was 18 with Foundations.

“I feel in my power right now and I feel like I should use my voice to benefit people who’ve been screwed over, but also [to help] young people entering the industry because I want them to do well. I want the UK scene to be protected. I want venues to exist! Music is the most important thing in my life besides the living, breathing things. I love what I do and I want other people to have what I have as well because it’s awesome.”

Speaking in the June edition of Music Week, Nash outlined what “fixing” the business would look like to her.

“I want the industry regulated by people that are experts,” she said. “I’d love to put a floodlight on the stage and be like, ‘You see behind that curtain? There’s seven billion quid there.’

“We need to push things forward because it’s embarrassing that other countries do it better than us. France, for example, has had a levy in the live industry for 20 years; they’ve been doing it and it works and it gives loads of money to the grassroots. The French also have a streaming tax where, when revenues exceed €20 million, there’s a 1.2% tax and that should be adopted in the UK. It’s a small percentage but it’ll go a long way. Tax the streamers to support artists.

“It’s very unlikely that they’ll turn around and say, ‘Kate Nash is right. She got her bum out so let’s make it fair.’ That’s not gonna happen. But this is something that could happen.”

Sitting in front of a bunch of spreadsheets is necessary, but you also need to connect and understand what our industry actually does on a working level

Kate Nash

Nash has exended invitations to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and Culture Minister Chris Bryant to accompany her to this year’s Mighty Hoopla (June 1), where she will be headlining the Alternative Stage with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, to gain a greater understanding of the state of play.

“Come with me, get in the van and experience a gig – not in a VIP box at a stadium, but experience a functioning gig and meet all the people that work to make a show happen,” she said. “You’re going to meet incredible people and it will also help you see how many jobs are involved in putting on a show.

“Sitting in front of a bunch of spreadsheets is necessary, but you also need to connect and understand what our industry actually does on a working level. I’m making it work despite the circumstances, but I’m not sure Kate Nash starting now would be able to do that.”

Nash, who has just dropped new single Germs, also pondered what she had learned about herself from the Butts For Tour Buses campaign.

“I’ve learnt that I’m willing to give 20% of my arse earnings away,” she said. “It’s shown me how few fans I need to make really good money that covers the costs of what I want to make creatively. With OnlyFans I earn monthly, whereas with music I earn quarterly, and I mainly earn from festivals rather than touring, so it’ll be interesting to look at a four-year span and the numbers there. But at the moment I’m earning more from my bum.”

Subscribers can read the full interview with Nash and co-manager Kat Kennedy of Big Life here.

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