FEATURE:
Normal Person
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The Music Industry Post-COVID: What Will the State of Affairs Be in Spring 2021?
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IT is quite optimistic to say that…
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things will be back to normal by the spring, but there is a potential vaccine available and, presuming it passes safety checks, it will be rolled out very quickly. If it works and one does not need to get repeated boosters too often, I think it will provide relief for so many people. Let’s hope that things go according to plan but, when it comes to the music industry, I am not sure there will be this immediate return to how things were as early as February this year. Many will be cautious about getting too close to people as I think we have lived a particular way for so long that that comfort we used to get from being in a live setting or very close to people we didn’t know might take a little while to come back. I do think that record shops will be a corner of the industry that will thrive – and has done all year -, and I do worry whether a lot of self-employed workers who are relying on furlough payment or universal credit will come back. From amazing journalists and those in P.R. to people who work at venues, there is going to be a depletion. The big question on everyone’s mind is whether this vaccine and potential recovery very soon will save venues under threat and mean festivals can go ahead as planned in the summer. This year has seen most musicians push back tour dates and, whilst you hate to see it, it is for everyone’s safety.
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I have seen some dates rearranged for March sort of time, and I get the feeling that they might need to be pushed back further. The majority of big tours have been rebooked for spring onwards, so it does seem timely that we have this potential lifeline in the form of a vaccine that should be widely available by then. The fate for many venues at the moment remains pretty precarious and fraught. Last week, NME ran an article explaining how many venues are in trouble and how the Music Venue Trust are helping:
“The Music Venue Trust have launched a new campaign to save 30 UK venues still in danger of being lost forever in the wake of coronavirus restrictions. See the full list and how you can help below.
Last month, the music industry celebrated over 1,000 venues, festivals and theatres being awarded the first share of the £1.57billion Cultural Recovery Fund to survive until April and weather the storm of closures and complications brought on by the coronavirus pandemic – before a second round of funding was announced rescued another wave of arts spaces and organisations, a third saw a number of large clubs receive upwards of £1million each and finally the likes of The Academy Group and London’s Social and Ronnie Scott’s were awarded large sums at the weekend.
An impressive 89 per cent of England’s grassroots music venues who applied for the Arts Council grants were successful, meaning that hundreds will be receiving a share of over £41million and largely mothballed until at least April when it is hoped that full-capacity gigs might be able to safely return. Now, the MVT are focusing their #SaveOurVenues campaign on the 30 UK music venues which received either no funding or not enough to survive.
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MVT’s new #SaveThe30 ‘Traffic Light’ campaign will highlight the venues considered safe, at risk or in imminent danger between now and March 31. Venues in ‘critical’ red status include The Lexington in London, Brixton Windmill, The Venue in Derby, The Railway Inn in Winchester, The Gellions in Inverness and The Lantern in Halifax.
“If we don’t act to save them right now, we do expect a large number of them to be permanently closed – it’s as simple as that,” Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd told NME. “This is the final option. Unless a significant movement is made in the next four weeks, we should expect them to start closing in the middle of December.”
He continued: “Without the public and artists getting behind the #SaveOurVenues campaign, 500 venues would already have closed since March. The fact that we’re now looking at over 400 being safe is a remarkable achievement. If everyone comes back with the same support, we could genuinely save these 30 venues.”
Davyd added: “If people want these local venues to still be there when this is over there is a very clear call to action: choose a venue, get donating, get writing, get calling, get organised. Save them all. Reopen Every Venue Safely”.
As there is no set date as to when venues across the country can reopen and welcome artists back, it is down to the Government to provide additional funding that means we lose as few venues as possible. I think that there will be inevitable casualties and that will damage local economies and prove devastating for artists who rely on these spaces to reach new people and hone their craft!
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Looking ahead to the festival season of 2021, and that is another big concern. Even the largest festivals felt a big loss and have been damaged. It is a pity that we did not get to revel in the sunshine of this summer in fields watching great artists but, as many are keen to restart next year, there are problems to address. As The Guardian reported, there are complexities to navigate before restarting festivals:
“MPs are to examine how UK music festivals can survive in 2021 after the coronavirus pandemic wiped out a majority of festivals this year, resulting in revenues falling by 90%.
A new inquiry organised by a Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee will consider how the government can support music festivals next year as legal and social-distancing requirements determine the viability of large-scale events.
Committee chair MP Julian Knight said: “We have so many legendary festivals that have given the UK a worldwide reputation – it would be devastating if they were unable to come back with a bang, or if smaller festivals that underpin the talent pipeline disappear entirely.”
Despite no confirmation of when large events will be permitted, many UK festivals are still planning for 2021: Stormzy and Liam Gallagher will headline next year’s Reading and Leeds festivals; Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis has said she hopes the festival will return in June. Wales’s Green Man festival has said it would consider temperature checks on entry. News of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine breakthrough may provide a clearer path to festivals reviving next summer.
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The committee seeks written contributions from festival staff, fans, musicians, local communities, suppliers and the vast freelance workforce affected by this year’s cancellations to address issues including the economic and cultural contribution of the British festival industry, the impact of cancellations, the risk to future festivals and the measures required to allow them to proceed. “It’s crucial that support to enable music festivals to go ahead in 2021 and beyond is put in place,” said Knight”.
As I said earlier, I wonder how many people will feel comfortable even after a vaccine has been rolled out, what with the trepidation and anxiety we have been living with for so many months?! There is an eagerness for people to see live music in theory, but I wonder whether there will be a slight dip in demand in those first few months as we readjust back to a life that resembles normal. Live music in larger venues is another area where we need to consider how to operate safely after the vaccine has been deployed. This NME article from earlier in the week detailed how Ticketmaster were possibly going to operate next year:
“Ticketmaster are working on plans to verify fans’ coronavirus vaccination status before allowing admission to future concerts, according to comments from company president Mark Yovich.
Speaking to Billboard, Yovich said that, although their were still logistical factors to consider, preparation has already begun to look at how verified vaccination could speed up the return of more familiar live event settings across the world.
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“We’re already seeing many third-party health care providers prepare to handle the vetting – whether that is getting a vaccine, taking a test, or other methods of review and approval – which could then be linked via a digital ticket so everyone entering the event is verified,” he explained.
Yovich continued: “Ticketmaster’s goal is to provide enough flexibility and options that venues and fans have multiple paths to return to events, and is working to create integrations to our API and leading digital ticketing technology as we will look to tap into the top solutions based on what’s green-lit by officials and desired by clients.”
After purchasing a concert ticket, fans would need to verify that they had already been vaccinated or tested negative for coronavirus approximately 24 to 72 hours prior to the concert, providing them with approximately one year of protection.
Any fans who tested positive or didn’t take a test to verify their status would not be granted access to the event. Ticketmaster confirmed they would not store or have access to fans’ medical records, and would only receive verification of whether a fan is cleared to attend an event on a given date.
Marianne Herman, co-founder and principal reBUILD20, said the initiative was “one key way to reimagine how we’re going to get fans back to live events”, adding: “The experience of attending live events will look completely different, but innovation married with consistent implementation will provide a framework to get the live sports and event industry back to work”.
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Although that plan would be effective and few would object to being that thorough if it got them back to gigs, there was a report on the BBC website where the above report was debunked by Ticketmaster:
“However, Ticketmaster clarified in a statement to the BBC that it could not enforce any requirements on ticketholders.
"Ticketmaster does not have the power to set policies around safety/entry requirements, which would include vaccines and/or testing protocols," it said.
"That is up to the discretion of the event organizer. Ticketmaster continues to work with event organisers on all Covid safety measures and it will be up to each event organiser to set future requirements, based on their preferences and local health guidelines."
It said the plan discussed in Billboard was one of many "potential ideas" it was exploring to enable the return of live music”.
It is obvious that there will be a lot of planning and restrictions for a while yet but, looking ahead, and it seems like there might be ways that live music can return in a big way when a vaccine has been approved and delivered. I do worry that music venues who are struggling now might not have enough in the kitty by the spring so that they can welcome people back - and I hope the Government ensures that there is extra funding and support for those who are struggling. In terms of stability across the industry, the legions of hard-working self-employed who are not able to work at the moment also need support, as they are a valuable part of the infrastructure; a key beating heart of the industry that needs backing. I also hope that there are safety measures in place across all venues and festivals going forward as not to assume that a vaccine means that there is no risk and we can all go back to how things were this time last year. As much as anything, the past eight months have shown that, when the music industry has been hit and restricted, there is this community support and strength that is heartening to see! This week has seen reports and articles emerge speculating the future of venues and festivals and what needs to happen so that they can keep going in 2021. Let’s hope that the casualties are few and we can start to get back to normal. Although some musicians like Lars Ulrich (Metallica) have predicted large-scaled performances will not return until late next year, if we have an effective tracing system, combined with a successful vaccine, then there might be a way of making it happen earlier. Everyone has been very patient and missing live music so much; embracing it like we did before is something that we have…
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WAITED so long for.