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Pop singer Kate Nash has said her decision to join OnlyFans is about “agency” and to raise awareness of the dire situation many artists face, at the same time rejecting critics who have called her decision “sad”.
Over the weekend, Nash announced that she had launched a “Butts for Tour Buses” campaign, citing rising costs of travel, accommodation, food, promotion and crew.
Speaking to The Independent, Nash, 37, called it a “spur of the moment thing” that transpired after a frank conversation with her accountant.
“Basically they told me that these tours are crushing me,” the “Foundations” singer said. “I was really stressed, and I needed a solution. So I thought of putting my bum online because I flash it around quite a bit, I have a great derriere and I get a lot of compliments. And I thought it’d be a funny way to start the tour.”
Nash said she didn’t realise her decision would “cause such a stir” but said she believed it was a positive thing for the industry: “It’s literally funding my tour. Shining a light on my ass is shining a light on the issue [of funding] in the music industry.”
She added that the reaction so far has been “overwhelmingly supportive”, with just a few “non-liberal feminists” criticising her decision: “But I’m a grown woman, I can do whatever I want,” she said. “I’m happy to profit from my great bum – I’m reinvesting in myself and my creative economies because I want to do things properly, I want to pay my crew.”
Earlier this year, Nash’s fellow pop star Lily Allen launched her own OnlyFans account, on which she has been sharing photos of her feet to subscribers.
The decision initially started as a joke on her hit BBC podcast, Miss Me? with her longtime friend, TV presenter Miquita Oliver. However, Allen recently revealed that she now makes more money from her feet pictures on OnlyFans than she does through streams of her music on Spotify.
“Imagine being [an] artist and having nearly eight million monthly listeners on Spotify but earning more money from having 1000 people subscribe to pictures of your feet,” she posted on X/Twitter.
Nash rejected the “weird tale of sadness” she believed was being pushed on to her campaign: “I think policing people is totally unnecessary,” she said. “Women enjoy sex, we’re horny and our bodies are cool and funny and beautiful.”
She continued: “I actually love how much people are talking about [this], because it’ll get more attention on the issue. I want to talk about the fact that the [music] industry has failed. And I want other artists to know that they’re not alone – so many artists are having to cancel tours because they can’t afford it. It costs more to present a live show than it ever has.”
Industry figures have been warning of the looming threat to the UK’s live music industry due to the “financially unviable” situation it presents for many artists.
Last year, a survey of almost 6,000 performers found that around half of professional musicians earn less than £14,000 a year from their music.
The report revealed more than half (53 per cent) sustain their career by sourcing other forms of income outside of music – and 75 per cent of those who have other income in addition to music report only seeking this work for financial reasons.
Music industry executives are “well aware” of this crisis, Nash said, but are failing to take action in order to prevent it from worsening – with the exception of organisations such as the Music Venue Trust, which campaigns to support grassroots venues and artists in the UK.
“I think artists need to get really vocal, and I’m happy to be like the face (or the ass) or that,” she said. “I’m in quite a unique and privileged position – I’ve had a No 1 record, I’m sort of known in the UK, but I’ve been making it work independently for 12 years.”
The industry’s current situation was “not sustainable”, she concluded: “Everyone is struggling and we just need to be honest about that, because our industry has failed us.”
Nash headlines a show at Kentish Town Forum in London next year on 9 April, tickets are on sale now.
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