The Bobby Lees have announced that they will be taking a hiatus after they finish the rest of the shows they have booked for this year. The band announced this in an Instagram post that reads,
”We’re gonna finish out this year playing the shows we have booked and then we’re taking a break and we’re not sure when or if we’ll be playing again. The reason we need to step back is because of the current state of the music industry. It is now set up in a way that makes it almost impossible for bands like us to economically sustain. We’re not sure what a band our size can do, but we want to share one idea we have in case someone reading this has any power to initiate the kind of change needed to restore value to music.
The main issue seems to be Spotify and streaming. We’ve been on their playlists and while they’ve created a system which people like (including us), ultimately it has caused a lot more harm than good because it has reduced the value of music to almost nothing. It’s wild most people are comfortable spending $3-5 bucks on a cup of coffee today, but they no longer want to spend that same amount on an album they listen to often because streaming has set a shitty standard most of us have accepted. Bands our size barely make anything from Spotify payouts. Worse off, they’ve made algorithms and streaming numbers become more important than how something makes you feel.
The current mentality seems to be ‘Well, that’s just the way it is now’ which we can’t accept. Nothing changes by people saying that’s just the way it is. The only solution we see is if a large group of more established artists got together and demanded a higher payout rate for everyone, not just for themselves. Another solution is finding a way for music to be paid for again. If bigger artists refused to let music be consumed for almost free, it would probably trickle down and help the rest of us. Music is truly our medicine and we don’t want to see what we love become obsolete because no one can afford to make quality records or tour anymore. For us, it’s happening now, so we felt we had to say something.
If this helps start a conversation or initiate change, that would be amazing, If not, we felt we needed to say it anyway. In case this is it for us, we want to sincerely thank you guys for all your support over the last 7 years. To everyone that’s joined us at a show, bought an album or t-shirt, told a friend - THANK YOU. This band gave us a purpose when we desperately needed one and you’ve all been a huge part of that. We’re a little freaked out about stopping, but we know this is what we have to do. As it stands now, our final shows will be the Northeast this month, 3 last California dates next month, and 12/20 in NYC at Bowery Ballroom. We hope to see you there”.
The Bobby Lees released their album Bellevue in 2022.