How Covid Has Affected the Music Industry in the Economy
Emily Haight
A lot of people got many things they were looking foward to taken away from the Coronavirus, one of them being concerts they bought tickets for. As the result of social distancing and quarantine, the live concert revenue was shuttered. Whether you were going to see Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Maroon 5, or any other famous artist as the extensive list continues, I bet you were upset to get the cancellation tweets from disappointed artists. Not only was this saddening for yourself, but it was saddening for the artists performing live as well. In addition to the collapse of the live music industry for artists, the mass amount of individuals who work alongside them also suffered. Many retail stores in the selling of merchandise for said artists, as people weren’t going to end up going to their concerts. In smaller instances, covid also affected the individuals that played at local bars and venues. The music industry was hit hard by covid, and is still continuing to struggle, the live performance being the biggest “causality”. weforum.org explains that, “A six-month shutdown is estimated to cost the industry more than $10bn in sponsorships, with longer delays being even more devastating.”
Connecting the music industry to the economy, it’s globally worth over $50 billion, including the two major income streams of live music and recorded music. 50% of the revenues are from the sales of tickets to live performances, so you can see how much of an impact the coronavirus had on the economics of the music industry. In addition, in part due to the inability to promote new albums or songs on tours, many artists have postponed releasing much of their music. In the future, when the pandemic is resolved, the growth forecast for live music is expected to be less than usual, “one survey shows that, without a proven vaccine, less than half of US consumers plan to go to concerts, movies, sports events and amusement parks when they reopen.”
During this pandemic period, some consumers have subscribed to more music services like Spotify Premium, many have opted out of subscriptions under financial pressures. Similarly many artists have held online meet and greets to talk to groups of their fans, but many would rather pay to see them in concert, face to face. Hopefully, with the vaccine created and being administered to many, we will see a change back to normal, and many of us will get the chance to see the live performance we bought in person tickets for.
Works Cited
“Change the Tune: How the Pandemic Affected the Music Industry.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 18 Dec. 2020, www.theguardian.com/music/2020/dec/18/how-the-pandemic-affected-the-music-industry.
Written by
Stefan Hall, Project Lead. “This Is How COVID-19 Is Affecting the Music Industry.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/this-is-how-covid-19-is-affecting-the-music-industry/.
ago, Music - 8 months, et al. “10 Ways the Coronavirus Will Change the Music Industry.” Okayplayer, 23 Dec. 2020, www.okayplayer.com/music/ways-the-coronavirus-will-effect-the-music-industry.html.
The music industry is one of the few that can fly under the radar normally, but with COVID the world has had to take different approaches to attaining music. One thing that I find interesting is that artists have chosen now to slow down on producing music because it would be a good time to try the music on streaming platforms as consumers can't go to concerts to hear the music in person. Do you think that streaming services and virtual meet and greets can counter the large drop in spending on music? I think that in some cases it could, but this would also require artists to put out more music to spark the interests of consumers. I am also curious about how much the spending on music will increase once the pandemic ends.
ReplyDeleteI knew covid affected the live performance music industry a lot. What I didn't know is that it sparked an increase in sales for music apps. This surprised me because these music apps have already been downloaded. In the last paragraph, a good idea would have been to expand your reasoning for the increase in downloads. Overall it's very informal, well formatted, and a great piece to read.
ReplyDeleteI think it's so interesting that the music industry revenue shifts from live concerts earning more, to recorded music. I also thought that recorded music was lesser than live concerts, meaning that COVID-19 took out a lot of their revenue, but since they're pretty evenly matched these artists are still making a lot of money. Hopefully these artists are able to regain their losses after the pandemic ends.
ReplyDeleteGreat job taking a topic that many do not particularly think about involving the economy and corona virus. It’s crazy that the entertainment industry lost around $10 billion by just shutting down performances. One thing you mentioned that I was surprised about was that small bar/coffee shop performers being unable to perform were hit as well. This is sad because people like that relied on the money they would get much more than a celebrity needed their money. I also am intrigued by the efforts people made to virtually share their music or through online meet and greets. I wonder if when concerts start back up, these virtual events will continue as well? Having both options always available could increase the $50 billion global worth and make a full recovery from the hit of the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteI wasn’t surprised to read that live music was hit the hardest within the industry during this time--however I was surprised to read that the growth for live music is expected to decrease ‘once this is all over’! Personally, (once it’s safe) going to a concert will be one of the first things on my list. It is interesting how the virtual side of any industry has taken over and is expected to remain the most successful part of the industry even after the pandemic. While I am not particularly worried about performers who are at the top of the industry, I do worry about the state of music venues after this. I know Summerfest has seen a decrease in profits over the years and I am curious to know if any other music venues have seen this decrease overtime. Then, of course, they were hit even harder with live music cancelled this summer. I hope people gain an appreciation for live music after this!!
ReplyDeleteThe music industry is hugely important to all generations and its profits spill into other areas, such as merchandise, commercials, etc. as well. With COVID, this is one of many facets of society that has suffered. Though live music revenue has decreased most dramatically, I wonder if the excess time allowed artists to produce and record additional material to be appreciated in safer times. Furthermore, a few streaming platforms including Spotify offered discounted rates for those that could prove their financial instability in the current times, which lessened the gap and prevented a decrease in overall listeners. In all, I love this topic as it is relevant to everyone, and I do hope that music and festivals such as Summerfest will be safely up and running soon.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think the music industry is one that people thought of a lot as being so negatively impacted by the covid shutdown, but you’re right it really was. Not only the big concerts you mentioned, or the local bars/cafes, or retail stores; but think of all of the big multiple day long music festivals such as Summerfest, Country USA, Coachella and how much money was lost there. This is not something that I thought of right away but the covid shutdown definitely had a big impact on the music industry.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this gave me an interesting perspective into the effects of the pandemic. I didn’t think that a musicians job could be affected so much. The ability to perform live is important to many, especially new/aspiring artists to get their name out there. I know that many people were at home due to stay at home orders and quarantines this last year. I didn’t realize how important music was to so many to keep them a little bit more “Sane” while at home. I also know that a lot of artists made at least one song from their houses and/or about the pandemic. This shows how they were not able to keep making as much music and revenue as before, but they still attempted to support themselves and honestly others as well.
ReplyDeleteI knew the music industry would be affected negativly by covid but I didn't think it would be losing as much money as it is. I feel like some of these venues that hold the live music are doing pretty bad as well knowing that there hasn't been going on at those places since March.
ReplyDeleteI personally never thought about what covid could have done to the music industry. Your blog post really made me think about how covid may have affected festivals like summerfest as well. Summerfest is known to have famous artists there to perform which then brings forth the opportunity for hundreds of teens and adults to spend money on a ticket and attend the festival. So not only have artists been losing the opportunity to perform and make extra money, but so have musical festivals. Overall I thought that you're blog gave a great representation of how the music industry was affected by the pandemic and gave even more room for those reading it to take some time to really think about else covid affected music wise. Great job!
ReplyDeleteThe music industry has definitely found other ways to adapt to our new virtual climate. Lil Nas had a concert on Roblox that I attended. While concert revenue definitely took a beating, I can see sales maybe even rising with all the alone time and excess money consumers have.
ReplyDeleteSome don't realize how large the international music market is. Due to the virus, with such a large and fragile market, musicians and labels had to find ways to adapt. Virtual concerts became a thing, like John above me said, such as the Travis Scott concert in Fortnite. I guess my question to you is do you think virtual concerts could become another branch in this market once the virus is over? Obviously design and preparation are easier than another concert, not to mention they're free for viewers so price would not be discriminatory.
ReplyDeleteI was not aware that the music industry was worth so much money. I knew that the music business was very profitable but was not aware that it was worth over 50 billion dollars. One thing that I thought was pretty cool that some artists did was host online concerts. I personally saw the online Machine Gun Kelly concert and I thought that it was a really cool oppurtunity since I would not have been able to go to Los Angeles to actually see him in concert, and it was also very cost effective. Even though the COVID-19 virus was mostly negative in all apsects, I thought that it was a good way for artists to experiment with new ways to connect with their fans.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting topic to discuss in regards to COVID-19's effect on it. I feel people often forget about how corona has effected industries outside of healthcare, restaurants, and other obvious areas. It is very insightful to discuss however, because it also bring to attention how the pandemic has effected the economy in many ways. It also reminds me of how many different social events have been taken away, which brings me back to the degrading mental effect of the pandemic that sometimes, sadly, gets over looked again.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post. I like that you were able to talk about our current situation with Covid-19. I don't really pay attention to the music industry like some students in this school, but it's interesting to see how much Covid-19 has really impacted the music industry. I personally haven't gone to a in person concert ever, but it's very sad to know that the artist and performers aren't able to perform due to the pandemic. But also relating to the sports situation with fans, they are slowly bringing back fans to the games and I feel like they should slowly start bringing back concerts with a limited number of fans, kind of just to experiment to see the effects and then possibly bringing back all fans and concerts if it goes well. Other than that the post was informal and I'm glad you addressed this situation with the music industry.
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