Up and coming singer Kate Bond opens up about maneuvering the changing landscape of the music industry. From grappling with the cost of living in London, to battling the algorithms and streams. The singer reflects on how technology and economic pressures are shaping her creative journey.
Kate Bond is a Bradford-born, Neo soul singer based in London. We meet through a glitchy Zoom call whilst she has a few minutes on a break from work. I instantly understand and have an idea of Kate’s busy life as an upcoming singer trying to make it in London.
She tells me during our interview she works forty hours a week, is currently completing her Master’s and is recording, writing and performing weekly.
She explains that before moving to London, she was based in Newcastle but felt that relocating to the capital was inevitable and would help her get her big break. “I moved to London about two years ago now. I moved from Newcastle, which is a tiny local scene.
The reason why I moved was because I’m a solo artist, so initially, there’s no… well, there’s a little bit of soul in Newcastle, but it’s mostly indie. It’s a great place to start, but for me, the plan always was to move to London.”
Like many up and coming independent artists, Kate has to self promote a lot of her music. Apps like TikTok have become the place to do this, “I’m a bit of a grandma, and I can’t really use TikTok very well. I think there’s a lot of artists doing the same things, which is something I was kind of guilty of, [if] something’s working [I’ll] just jump on the bandwagon.”
On the app, 85% of videos contain music so TikTok users are twice as likely to discover and share new music than the average social media user. This has meant that TikTok has had a huge impact on the music industry. 24% of the non-TikTok users discovered a new song on the platform and searched for it on a music streaming service
Kate knows that the app is part of her promotional rollout but it can be frustrating, “TikTok is that annoying thing in the corner that I have to do. [You] just have to find your own lane because…I find myself cringe! Everyone’s doing the same shit. It’s just…‘Do you like neo-soul artists? You should listen to me!’ It’s not very imaginative.”
TikTok, like other apps Instagram, Instagram and Snapchat, has become a selling platform. Sometimes audiences want to discover something organically, “It’s almost like when you feel someone’s hard selling something, no one wants to buy that, so I think that that’s where everyone’s going wrong, including me.
I mean, you found me on TikTok, which is weird. My manager found me on TikTok, and then other people have come to my shows through TikTok.
[So] even though I’m not blowing up on TikTok, it is a discovery platform, so I do need to use it.”
Kate is right, I discovered her on TikTok, like many of the artists I listen to. However, it isn’t always that easy. TikTok can propel singers who have been struggling for years just by pure luck of a song taking off in the algorithm. But equally, for people like Kate, it is just as easy to get left behind, battling with the algorithms.
Long gone are the days of chart battles and record sales, we have officially entered the era of streaming. For emerging and up and coming artists, there is almost zero money coming their way, but thousands are coming out of their pockets.
Independent artists must battle with having full control over their image and music but also having to take full financial responsibility.
Kate understands this all too well, “There’s so little money in the industry because everything’s free, so labels want the full product before you are signed. They’re not looking for potential anymore; they’re looking for the [full] product that they can market.
In terms of people signing you now, it’s so rare that someone’s going to be like, ‘I want to sign you because I like your music and I want to develop you.’ It’s all about getting the final product.”
For Kate, she is completely self-funded. Streaming has taken so much money away from artists, even ones with millions of listeners per month.
Singer Lily Allen weighed in on this last month via her X account. Her post said “Imagine being and artist and having nearly 8 million monthly listeners on Spotify but earning more money from having 1000 people subscribe to pictures of your feet. don’t hate the player, hate the game.”
This was in response to a user criticising her recent choice to join the site ‘Only Fans’ to sell feet pictures. She isn’t the only one who has done this, pop singer Kate Nash joined the site last month. When talking to The Independent she admitted, ‘My bum is funding my tour.’
While these examples may not apply to all artists, they exemplify the lives of successful artists who have ‘made it’ but still struggle with changing industry and the battle of streams.
Artists on Spotify will typically earn between $0.003-$0.005 per stream but this varies. It can depend on the contractual agreements with labels and managers, the location of the artists, the type of subscription the listener has and the streaming habits of the listener. Spotify pays the rights holders, who then pay the artist, but this isn’t always guaranteed.
The Grassroots music industry has taken a hit in the last ten years, with many small and independent spaces for creatives closing their doors. It seems that without a large financial backing, it is nearly impossible to get discovered as a new artist.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said, whilst speaking at Beyond Music Festival, “Creating an ecosystem that can nurture talent, from quality music education to grassroots venues where you hone your skills and a government that walks alongside you to create an environment that opens up opportunities.”
For artists around the UK and away from London, it is difficult to be discovered and it seems that venturing to the capital is the only option.
However, for Kate, it still isn’t simple. “[Moving to London], I always knew it was going to be tough, but I didn’t think it’d be this tough. I knew that I had to start from scratch again, which was hard because I had built something in Newcastle. I’d built up quite a good reputation. I was getting played on Radio 1, 6 Music, all that kind of stuff.
Then I moved here, and obviously, you get humbled quite quickly because it’s London and no one cares! That’s why I started to build up my own thing. If you’re new to London and you’re not known here then you have to just start from scratch, so I [decided to] set up my own events company, I was like ‘I’ll just put on my own gigs’.”
I also wanted to put to her the question of nepotism. It has become the buzzword in the music and culture space, especially as more people are calling out people who may have had a leg up.
In London, it isn’t hard to find the sons and daughters of music execs or parents who ski together in Chamonix and help get their friends’ kids summer internships.
Kate explains that she tries to not dwell on this, “I would argue that everyone’s dealt a certain card in life and I think if you think too much like that as an artist, you’re just going to become jaded. There’s nothing you [can] do. Realistically, the guy that’s been to private school, that has not got to pay rent, that doesn’t have to work a job, is going to be further along in music than you.
After doing this for three years, you just can’t get pressed about stuff like that, otherwise you’ll go literally insane.”
For artists like Kate trying to keep positive whilst battling against the algorithms and financial setbacks, isn’t easy. But she knows that if this is your passion, you will find a way.
“I feel like for me, [I’m] just paving my own way, knowing it’s going to take a little bit longer than other people. I have privileges that other people don’t have, someone [will be] in a worse position than me.
I think you just gotta be up for the graft really and just know that it’s going to take you a little bit longer. You might have to work more hours, you might have to be in the studio till like ten. But if you love it and you want to do it, you will do it.”