A SINGER who became a TikTok sensation when his video with a dancing pensioner in High Town, Hereford, went viral has shared a heartfelt message about the industry.
Around one million people have watched retired raver Iris shaking a leg to busker Jason Allan's tunes.
But Mr Allan, who is in his mid-20s and has more than 1.5 million followers online, said he felt there were more bad times than good in the industry.
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The independent artist said like was "incredibly hard right now" as he felt he was "being pulled in so many different directions" and felt an "intense amount of anxiety and pressure to deliver".
He admitted he was blessed to pursue being an artist as a career, but the truth was it was "more bad than good" in the job.
"I’ve never been more proud to be an independent artist," he said in a social media post.
"Everything you see from the tours, the music, the content etc everything is done by me and a few mates, but the price of that is you’re always tired from working from morning til night, you feel you’re being a bad son/cousin/brother/ boyfriend because you never see your family and you sacrifice time with them to work, you never have any money because every penny goes back into the music.
"I’m at a point where I’m simultaneously trying to promote a 10-date tour, write new music, promote my current music, reply to messages on nine different platforms, view houses to buy my first house with my partner.
"I hope they accept exposure as a deposit because f*** me I’ve been paid loads of that over the years, [while also trying to] maintain a family and social life whilst trying my hardest to budget all of this with minus £2,000 in the bank.
"It’s all just a little overwhelming at the minute but I’m battling it one day at a time and my beautiful soulmate @miapomzo has been my rock in times like these."
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Mr Allan, from Shrewsbury, has been a full-time busker and musician since he was 16 years old, and his love for singing began when he was in a local choir from the age of eight.
He also thanked his fans, adding: "Anyway thank you for being here, thank you for supporting my music and thank you for making all of this worth it, even if it doesn’t seem like it. you really do make this shit worth the pain."
When he got older, he began to sing Christmas carols in town, and when he got his first guitar at 16, he started to busk.
He said he loved it so much and made enough money, so he quit his job and has been doing it full-time ever since.
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