BONUS TRACKS: How Southwest Airlines’ New Policy Impacts Musicians and More Roots Music News
Hilary Saunders
Posted On March 14, 2025
Southwest plane courtesy of SWA Newsroom
This week, Southwest Airlines announced that the Texas-based company will end its highly-favored policy of two free checked bags for each passenger flying. The change is set to take place starting May 28, 2025. According to Reuters, via the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, baggage fees yielded more than $7 billion in revenue for major US airlines in 2023, but Southwest only earned about 1% of that.
Ten-time International Bluegrass Award-winner and Missy Raines took to Facebook to express her frustrations with the airline. In a short post, she explained to friends and fans how such a policy impacts working musicians in particular. “Trust me,” she wrote, “this is going to affect WHO you get to see perform going forward because Southwest has been the airline of choice for many musicians for a lot of years as an affordable option.”
Although many musicians are reticent to check their instruments to begin with (read more about how stressful that process can be in this issue of the journal), Southwest’s “Bags Fly Free” policy at least helped with the cost effectiveness of touring. Raines went on to list a number of ways that listeners can support artists, since it major corporations continue to offer less and less:
Ways to help:Go to live shows and concerts
At a bare minimum, streaming music sends a pittance to those who made those songs. However, a new report from the French music streaming service Deezer, based on information shared in music data service Luminate‘s 2024 year-end report, found that 78% of all songs uploaded to their platform have never been streamed. Read more about what this means for musicians and the music industry at large in this article by Bill Rosenblatt, published in Forbes.
WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO
Here’s a sampling of the songs, albums, bands, and sounds No Depression staffers have been into this week:
Jason Isbell – Foxes in the Snow
Thin Lear – A Shadow Waltzed Itself
Nefesh Mountain – Beacons
Arny Margret – I Miss You, I Do
Annie Bartholomew – Sisters of White Chapel
Gregory Alan Isakov – “Words”
MJ Lenderman – “Bury The Dog” (from We Love It Here. A Benefit Compilation for Lamplight AVL)
Julia Sanders – “Dark Matter”
Rick Astley – “Pink Pony Club”
