# What’s the Deal With Support Acts on Tours Today?

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/whats-the-deal-with-support-acts-on-tours-today/
- Published: 2026-11-09T17:04:18+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-09T17:23:07+00:00
- Original publisher: Billboard
- Original article: https://www.billboard.com/music/concerts/tour-opening-acts-shift-budget-analysis-1236376297/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Major pop tours are increasingly going without opening acts.
- Rising costs make support slots harder to budget.
- Fast-growing artists may prefer to headline.

## Summary

A growing number of major pop stars, including Ariana Grande, Rosalía and Lady Gaga, have toured without opening acts. Rising costs, fixed stage productions and fans’ limited time are making support slots harder to justify, while agents say new acts can gain prominence quickly and may prefer to headline.

Without an opener, a headliner avoids the support act’s costs reducing the tour’s profit, though promoters typically pay the opener. Agents also face uncertainty over expenses such as travel, food and hotels, and whether an artist’s popularity will change before a tour begins. For artists deciding between supporting another act and headlining, the advice is to weigh likely earnings and ticket sales against the risk of going solo; several R&B tours, including those by 6LACK, Isaiah Falls, Naomi Sharon and Ravyn Lenae, were cancelled this year.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.