Singer Kate Nash says she thinks she will make more money from selling photos of her bottom on OnlyFans than she will from her concerts, after joining the platform because it’s “a really difficult time for artists to tour”.

Under the slogan “Butts for tour buses”, the musician announced on Thursday that her OnlyFans income will subsidise her shows because “touring makes losses not profits”.

“I also think it’s bit of a punk protest as a woman to take control of my body and sell it to be able to fund my passion project, which is actually my 18-year career,” she explained.

“I want to highlight that, and I want people to talk about it, and I want people to know the truth about what what’s happening in the music business.”

Nash, who has just finished a three-week US tour, started her UK dates in Glasgow on Thursday, and will then move on to Europe. Her date at London’s Koko is sold out.

“I’m losing money from those tours,” she told BBC News.

“The only way I could find to make a profit on the tour – you’re either going, hopefully I sell enough T-shirts to cover the debt, or you cut people’s wages, or you fire band and crew, or you travel dangerously.”

She wasn’t willing to cut corners or the quality of her shows, she said. “So that leaves me in a position where I’m not profiting from tours. So is this a job, or is it a passion project?”

She also said it was “an important time for women to take control and to feel empowered”, and that she often posted photos of her posterior anyway.

The pictures she’s posted on OnlyFans so far are revealing but not explicit.

“I think the arse is the perfect combination of comedy and sexuality,” she said.

“I actually like bums. I think they’re just quite great. I think it’s funny. I enjoy taking pictures of my bum. Always been a bit of a flasher. So I’m going to enjoy doing it, and I’m already putting it online anyway.

“I’m going to probably make more money doing that than the music over the next three months.”

Nash, who released her fifth studio album in June, also told fans on Instagram: “No need to stream my music, I’m good for the 0.003 of a penny per stream thanks.”

Last month, fellow singer Lily Allen revealed she makes more money by selling pictures of her feet on OnlyFans than she does from Spotify streams.

Meanwhile, in recent months, acts including Rachel Chinouriri, Ratboy and The Duke Spirit singer Liela Moss have all cancelled tours, blaming the costs.

Nash highlighted a survey from recording and rehearsal studio network Pirate, which said most artists have not seen an increase in gig fees in recent years despite a rise in ticket prices.

“Festival prices and ticket prices have gone up drastically, but the musicians’ wage hasn’t,” she said.

“So you might be playing a venue that you’ve played multiple times and you can sell it out, [but] you’re getting the same fee that you did 10 years ago, probably. But all the other costs have gone up.”

Some corporations make big profits from music, as do a “select few” artists, she said.

“But the majority are losing money, and we are also creating an environment where the industry is saying, we don’t want diversity in music, because we don’t want working class people to be able to afford to do this.”

Musicians could follow a lead from people who earn a living from selling sexual content on sites like OnlyFans, she suggested.

“You’ve got all this control, and you’re deciding what you want to do and how you want to do it, and people want to pay you for it.

“We just haven’t taught any of those lessons to anyone with music and art – that art is so valuable and so worthwhile in our lives and so meaningful. We’re totally happy to devalue it.

“Where can we learn from the sex workers? Maybe we can learn something from this industry. How do we get empowered as artists and take a bit more control?”