About an incredible artist who somehow seems to be forgotten about a bit, and what this tells us about today’s music industry.
Earlier this week I bought concert tickets for Ella Eyre in London, in April next year. I’ve loved her songs – such as Together, Good Times and Came Here for Love – especially as a teenager, when she was everywhere on the radio. And I still listen to them regularly. She’s an absolute vibe.
So let’s say I was surprised to see the venue in London will be a church. As it only holds a capacity of 900 people, I was honestly preparing for a ticket war. I sat in front of my computer half an hour before the tickets went on sale and was patiently waiting to be put into the digital waiting room. Well, there was none. Instead, I was sent immediately to the buying page. With 2 tickets for a total of not even 40 pounds (service fees included) I didn’t hesitate to go ahead with my purchase. In less than 5 minutes I eventually secured my tickets. This felt like magic, knowing how difficult it is nowadays to get your hands on concert tickets.
But I fear it’s not, in fact, magic. It’s the lack of momentum for Ella Eyre, and that makes me sad for her.
She has multiple big hits, has 439.000 followers on Instagram and has the talent. But apparently that’s not enough to fill venues, even in a big city like London.
It’s true that she hasn’t been incredibly active as a singer the last couple of years. I learned she underwent a vocal cord surgery and had to learn to speak again. On top of that, she decided to leave her label and move on as an independent artist, which I can only support as an indie author. Although her second album ‘Everything In Time’ just dropped and she proves to still be an incredible singer with new catchy songs containing the necessary substance (like her song ‘little things’), it seems like all of these factors contributed to the fact she can’t fill large venues at this moment in time.
For the record: that’s not a bad thing, maybe it’s even the path she prefers. And as she sings: everything in time. Moreover, intimate concerts can definitely be a better experience than larger ones.
So I’m not complaining.
I was just surprised.
It also tells something about our current music landscape where it’s all about trends and momentum. We consume a lot of music ‘thanks’ to social media. When enough people make it seem like someone is ‘the next big thing’, and the artist decides to take that wave, that could be the sole spark someone needed in their career towards global stardom. Unfortunately, this also means that certain artists are – let’s be honest – too oversaturated to still feel involved as a fan. It’s not a nice feeling to miss out on concerts, merch and more, just because everything is sold out immediately.
And then you have these incredible artists like Ella Eyre who have already proven themselves, but somehow seem to be forgotten about a bit.
Well, I guess I’ll just enjoy this rare feeling of stress-free ticket sales and small crowds.
In the meantime there are still tickets left via Ticketmaster, so shoot your shot, I would say.
Written by Nikita
Nikita – founder of Nikita’s World – is a Belgian author of feminist feelgood & a journalist specialized in pop culture and the creative industry.