“Nothing. Zero. Nada. Didn’t care,” says Matt Thomson, frontman of rock band The Amazons. He’s talking about his interest, or lack of it, in tax affairs and income streams when the group formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 2014. Three UK top 10 albums later, however, The Amazons’ singer has a different attitude towards financial literacy. “In 2025, it’s everything,” he remarks, with a hint of ruefulness.
No musician is drawn to a life in music to learn about dividend payments and tax filing dates. But understanding how their finances work is almost as important in the long run as knowing their scales. The Amazons, whose name was inspired by Arthur Ransome’s children’s book Swallows and Amazons, have been compelled to think of themselves as a business, not unlike the online behemoth Amazon. “Very much so,” Thomson says, “which goes against my instincts.”
Twenty years ago, a top 10 act would have earned a decent amount from record sales. But songs are mainly streamed these days, not sold. Though Spotify made worldwide royalty payments of £7.7bn in 2024, the most in the platform’s history, complaints about low rates of return from streaming are rife. Compounding this is a collapse in touring revenues amid the cost of living crisis.