If you’re a Floridian into music you must’ve noticed the huge amount of artists not touring in Florida. Some notable artists who’ve skipped over Florida are SZA, Harry Styles, Steve Lacy, and Olivia Rodrigo. Pre-pandemic everyone came to Florida, now we are shocked when a big artist announces they’re coming here. Here’s two theories as to why Florida has lost its touring clout.

Location

Geographically, Florida is in a weird spot. Florida’s a peninsula so getting in and out of here is hard and expensive. The popular cities like Miami, Orlando, and Tampa are very deep in the south. It must be mentioned that Florida’s bigger cities are hours away from each other, traveling here takes time. It’s most artists best bet to make Atlanta the farthest southern city they play and hope that some Floridians drive up to see them.

Reputation

Florida is not Hollywood’s favorite state right now. From the “Don’t Say Gay” bill to the “Stop WOKE act”, it seems like Florida is being condemned by celebrities everyday. All this controversy the state is in could make artists not want to go out of their way to make a visit. Some musicians may believe by not coming to Florida and contributing to our economy, they’re standing up against our laws.

It’s a hard time to be a Floridian, seniors Bella M. and Lexie M. can vouch for this. Bella M. says, “When Harry Styles announced he was coming back on tour after the pandemic I was so excited. That excitement quickly turned into sadness because the closest venue he played at was in Atlanta, Georgia.” Lexie M. suffered a similar situation saying, “Olivia Rodrigo’s first album had a huge impact on me, it got me through so much. When I heard she was coming on tour I couldn’t wait. As you can guess, she skipped over Florida and I was pretty upset.” Musicians, next time you think about skipping over Florida, remember these seniors.