Plus the VAT on the merchandise at each border. That would be quite an outlay, and probably the biggest financial drain on a tour. You pay it upfront on every t-shirt, CD, cassette, poster etc, then claim back what you haven’t sold at a later date. There was a time a few years ago, that the sale of merchandise was what ultimately made the tour financially viable. I don’t know if that’s still the case. The last time I performed in Paris I took cassettes with me, the sale of those paid for my Airbnb.
It mostly seems to be this and the carnet that artists - including well known artists - are complaining about.
It’s not just the artist that I have sympathy for. There’s a few people I follow on social media, who are quite openly saying that it’s going to seriously impact their foreign touring - someone on Facebook shared a post from Fish, the ex-singer from Marillion. These artists have a very loyal fan base, the highlight of their year is often - for a variety of reasons - seeing their favourite artist on tour. It’s extremely upsetting for them too. So it’s not just us, the musician that’s affected by this.