As one by one each state in the world continues to shut down its core services due to the coronavirus pandemic, people are receiving a huge financial and emotional blow.
The music industry is no exception, as concert venues are now closed, festivals are postponed one after the other, and in general, their future looks uncertain.
However, through this growing crisis, music services, managers, and artists are announcing various initiatives to help employees.
There are many who focus on employees who have lost their income because of the coronavirus, some help musicians whose concerts have been canceled or postponed, and several are trying to help medical staff.
As mentioned above, not only the artists affected but also the organizers, the technicians, the venue owners, the waiters, the music industry in general, is suffering a huge financial blow.
But what about the small music scenes and the employees in them?
Taking a small tour of the internet, I didn’t see many articles referring to all those who, before the crisis, survived dozens of people with small and/or large concerts.
Of course, we must help artists, but when the crisis is over, have you thought about how many of these venues will be able to reopen?
How will all these employees and owners manage to re-operate?
Thinking of it logically, all these venues formed the basis of the world music industry.
These were where the most famous artists started, and it was they who helped many of them overcome when sales of CDs or vinyl declined.
Amid the global financial crisis and recession, live music was prosperous. Revenue from live concerts increased by 10% in 2018, as did music tourism.
Cancellations of events of all kinds are an impending disaster for the smaller spaces and the employees who are now deprived of their income.
The future is dark for the entire music industry, as experts warn that many companies and venues will not survive.
Let’s not forget that 72% of those in the live music industry are self-employed, which means zero revenue for the next, unknown, period.
Presently, artists, promoters, musicians and managers are desperately trying to reschedule concerts later in the year, despite uncertainty about how long the limitations of the coronavirus will last.
And others are looking for alternative ways to organize gigs, even through live streaming.
The coronavirus crisis is a good opportunity for everyone to rethink their ways of working so far and not only …
In any case, it is certain that we will all meet again at a concert…