The Aftermath of COVID-19: What’s Next for the Live Music Industry
Remember that time you finally scored tickets to see your favorite musician live? If you're lucky, the answer is yes, and that moment in time is etched in your mind forever. The rapid heartbeats, dripping sweat, and singing at the top of your lungs with strangers that felt like friends are the things that make this industry irreplaceable.
The live music experience brings people together from all walks of life together to share and celebrate the music they love. Live Youtube streams can't replace the atmosphere of live music and the energy you get from standing in a sea of 10,000 others who, at that moment, make you feel that you're not alone. These moments of intimacy bridge the divide between fans, artists, and the people behind the show, but is it reasonable to say we can get back to this?
As festivals and concert tours continue to be postponed for the foreseeable future, the live music industry's resiliency is called into question. Will the live music industry ever be what it once was? Or, will the aftermath of COVID-19 force the industry to create an entirely new fan experience? President of Live Nation, John Reid, gives us hope. He says, "Until March we were seeing fan demand and artist touring increasing globally year on year. There's no problem with supply and demand, which is why long term we are confident in the resilience of the live industry."
Until then, what can we expect? Reid says, "we are finding new ways to fill the live music gap including drive-in concerts, fan-less concerts from iconic venues, moving on to reduced capacity shows when possible." While these are all great efforts to continue connecting fans with the artists, there's still a concern about how the live music industry will adjust to accommodate the financial burdens of all artists and live music industry professionals.
When we do return to normality, the live music industry is going to attempt to make up for the lost time by producing mass amounts of shows. Could this lead to higher streams of revenue for every live music industry professional, compensating for lost earnings, or could this lead to over-saturation, leaving some people in the dust? Primary Talent agent Matt Bates comments, "You do worry, especially when there's less money going around, that there will be another wave of casualties in the live music industry because you're going to get to a stage where there is a lot happening but not enough people to go around to support it all." While no one can predict what happens next, it is undeniable that the music industry's long road to recovery.