As everyone tries to get used to this ‘new normal’ resulting from the recent pandemic, find out what supply chain issues will affect your music career.

A guest article by Pop of color.

The tours are back! This is great news is that you are an entertainer, whose live shows make up the majority of your income. However, while you might be ready to go, not everything else has returned to normal in our post-Covid world.

Supply chains are a complex and intricate series of stops that products bring from raw materials to us. Any hitch during the trip causes delays, piles and empty shelves at the grocery store.

While we can live without some of these items for a while – Baby Yoda dolls, video game consoles, and the turkey (a bland, overrated bird).

Others have more impact, such as toilet paper, medical supplies and blood donations.

And then some are particularly relevant for touring musicians. Here are eight:

Gasoline

If you’ve been driving, you’ve probably noticed the insanely high prices at the pump lately.

If you are in the UK you have probably encountered gasoline shortages.

If you’re on the internet, you might have seen this delicious video do the trick.

Microchips

It’s not obvious, but remember that microchips are essential components of electric guitars, computers, and audio equipment.

Rubber

The last car-related item on this list, be sure to anticipate the increase in the price of changing your tires.

Construction materials

Do you play in a music festival? If so, the stages will need to be built with… you guessed it… building materials.

Labor

If “nobody wants to work anymore”, this also applies to the staff of the places, bars and restaurants where you play. Be nice to your servers and tip well.

Take-out containers

Whether you’re paying out of pocket or trying to maximize your per diem, eating on the go is all about getting the most bang for your buck. With a shortage of on-the-go containers, it may be worth bringing Tupperware from home to store leftovers.

Heroin

Finally, let’s talk about drugs (a phrase I never thought I would say). No, I’m not talking about this in the context of 70s rockstar excess. Instead, let me connect the common thread of this supply chain:

Heroin comes from the poppy flower, the crops of which are harvested and turned into a potent drug in Afghanistan.
Due to the current political situation in Afghanistan and the Taliban regime’s promise to end the production of heroin and opium, there are fewer drugs to be smuggled across borders and over land. reach from your local dealer.

To make up for the lack of “pure” heroin arriving here, dealers are mixing their current offering with fentanyl, a synthetic tranquilizer fifty times more potent and dangerously easy to overdose.

It’s been a while for everyone, and music is something that reminds us that we were not alone. While on tour, bring a Naxalone Emergency Kit and encourage every location you perform to have one in their first aid kit.

The world is opening up again. Let’s dress and be smart to avoid supply chain shortages.