COVID 19 or coronavirus – a term that probably everyone knows by now.
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In this blog I’m going to talk about the effect of COVID 19 on the global music industries, the knock-on effect and the possible future. Therefore, I’ve researched a bit and would like to outline some “hard facts” in this blog:
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It originally started in December 2019.
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The economy faltered, restaurants had to close down, toilet paper was scarce, everybody was forced to self-isolate and people are unemployed. As COVID 19 still persists, the world is trying to adapt while preparing for its long-term effects.
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These also apply to the global music industries: COVID 19 has already wreaked havoc to the “$54 billion global music industry” (Ryan, 2020).
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“Music tourism is worth in the region of £4.5bn annually to the UK” (Ryan, 2020), including the festival season.
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Therefore, for live music industries, “gigs, tours, and festivals all either cancelled or postponed” (Draganova, 2020), which sets back the music industries quite a bit. In Forbes, Mark Halstead estimated that normally, Glastonbury, a major music festival, generates around $130 million in revenue (Beech, 2020) which will be lost due to the cancellation of the event.
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Dr Taylor elaborates that “a complete shutdown of public gatherings could result in monthly losses around the $260 million to $400 million” (Beech, 2020) and these numbers are only rising (Ryan, 2020). Also, Dr Taylor continues about a knock-on effect and how “businesses which typically benefit from this tourist spend – hotels, taxis, bars and restaurants will all see significant drops in revenues” (Ryan, 2020).
Alison Burton, manager of Air Studios in Hampstead said that if the lockdown remains, it will have impact on “core work on film scores” (Paine, 2020:7). But not only that, Lee doesn’t believe that “the studio’s international clientele to return until 2021” (Paine, 2020:7).
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That is a L O N G time.
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Not to forget, small artists and famous singers have to cancel or rearrange their shows. Rearrangement fees must be paid and then there’s the “force majeure” clause.
This, according to Peermohamed and Leverton, is a clause that “spells out what happens if a party cannot perform their contractual obligations because of events outside their control” (Beech, 2020).
Now, what about independent artists?
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Grassroots venues?
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All these people either are earning a bit of money if their company continues to pay them or they must depend on their savings – which (obviously!) isn’t a permanent solution.
While browsing through the internet, I noticed how in Birmingham, the second largest city in the UK, the most popular and known venues such as Sunflower Lounge, O2 Institute, Hare and Hounds all had to close due to the pandemic.
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I’m wondering: how do small, independent operations like these keep their business afloat?
(if you have a bit information on that, please write a comment below!)
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I found an interesting list about daily or weekly livestream shows of artists where they perform concerts from the comfort of their own home (luckily we have the Internet).
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It’s a fascinating way of interacting with fans and keeps the artists and the audience entertained during these times…. but how do you make money?
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Given that Covid 19 will remain among us for some time, how will typical revenue streams such as live music industries or music tourism develop?
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Will the way we enjoy gigs change?
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How will the music industries change? What do you think?
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Let me know in the comments!
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References:
Beaumont-Thomas, B. (2020) UK musicians lose £13.9m in earnings so far due to coronavirus. The Guardian. 23 March. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/mar/23/uk-musicians-lose-139m-earnings-coronavirus [Accessed 11 May 2020].
Beech, M. (2020) BTS, Green Day Cancellations Highlight $5 Billion Coronavirus Threat to Music. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/markbeech/2020/03/05/bts-green-day-cancellations-highlight-5-billion-coronavirus-threat-to-music/?fbclid=IwAR3Gw86NCOGBi2qgjzW4neULAuJ2pdgIHXJiq8mQHJvDCglfygFXZipmVhE#2e6d2bcb20cb [Accessed 10 May 2020].
Draganova, A. (2020) It is not all about the toilet paper culture matters: Creative live music responses to the Covid-19 lockdown. BCMCR Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research. [blog] 10 April. Available at: https://bcmcr.org/research/it-is-not-all-about-the-toilet-paper-culture-matters-creative-live-music-responses-to-the-covid-19-lockdown/ [Accessed 9 May 2020].
Paine, A. (2020) TOM WATSON – MEET THE NEW UK MUSIC CHAIR ON A MISSION TO UNITE THE BIZ. Music Week. Available at: http://content.yudu.com/web/2cz8/0A1vlbc/MW4thMay2020/html/index.html?page=6&origin=reader [Accessed11 May 2020].
Ryan, G. (2020) “It will likely be a financial disaster”: how coronavirus could impact the music scene (and your festival plans) this summer. NME, 11 March. Available at: https://www.nme.com/features/coronavirus-music-scene-festival-season-sxsw-glastonbury-2623587?fbclid=IwAR2ztacoWOdDxbgX_9BQQ8dgU-P0CJrIUpIXU50Mt15uq_M_OHNRM5hFlsY [Accessed 11 May 2020].
Bibliography:
Sutherland, M. (2020) How will the music industry have changed when it comes out of lockdown?. Available at: https://www.musicweek.com/opinion/read/how-will-the-music-industry-have-changed-when-it-comes-out-of-lockdown/079736 [Accessed 11 May 2020].