by Adriana Hamacher

OP/ED: British singer-songwriter Imogen Heap is finding it increasingly difficult to tour due to the cost, and lagging album and ticket sales, according to the U.K.’s Guardian. The artist, perhaps best known for the hit "Hide and Seek," recently complained on her Twitter page that, especially in the U.S., due to a "monopoly" in the  concert venue market,  fans are forced to pay a "huge mark up" on the price of tickets.

The award-winner's album sales help to finance her tours and touring revenues in turn help finance album recording but sales of albums have been slow because she doesn't have major label backing.  She says:

"With few album sales there's little to pay for the tour. I can't sustain it. Time to rethink! This may be the last tour in a while. A bit emotional. Ugh. Not easy keeping afloat in this climate!"

Heap’s dilemma turns the argument -- that touring is a panacea for falling album sales ­­-- on its head. The hard reality is that many of the larger venues, especially in the U.S., are owned by the same company, the infamous Live Nation Entertainment. It sets the ticket prices to the fans while also deciding how much the artist receives. Because it's an effective monopoly, doing a nationwide tour locks an artist in. Especially in regard to ticket prices, it seems despite the best efforts of the U.S. Department of Justice, the bottom line is that there's not enough competition.

A look at Heap's tour page shows the gruelling schedule she's set and the fact that she’s not managing many sellouts suggests that the price of tickets is set too high, especially when surcharges are added.

Heap is not an unknown: Her songs have appeared on film and TV programmes, “Hide and Seek” was featured on The OC, she won a Novello award for international achievement earlier this month and prior to that a Grammy, for engineering and producing her own album. She’s also adept at promoting herself and making use of social media.

Her case, sadly, is unlikely to be an isolated one. Music fans don’t have unlimited resources and statistics show that, despite the celebrated growth of the live music sector, much of this growth is to the benefit of larger artists. The figures indicate that when fans tighten their belts, they’re more likely to save to see a big artist like Lady Gaga or AC/DC than a number of less well known names. Perhaps it’s also related to the fact that the horrendous surcharges then only need to be negotiated once, add to that the increasing costs of an evening out and it’s possible to see how an artist like Heap can't make it work in this brave new world, despite touring like a Trojan and having plenty of devoted fans.

Imogen Heap is due to perform in the UK again in November at the Albert Hall.