Will Live Concerts Be Kept Alive?
Crowded arenas, energetic artists, and screaming fans are only a few significant aspects of live concerts that many miss dearly. With virtual events, the same adrenaline is impossible to achieve- both for the audience and the artist themselves. Both feed off the energy of the other, making the shows that much more electrifying. Large cities like Downtown Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee have fallen comparatively silent since live entertainment was put on hold due to the pandemic.
At this point, over a year since the start of COVID-19 restrictions and in the beginnings of vaccine distribution, the future of the live entertainment industry is heavily reliant on the reopening of concert venues. In 2020, the global live events industry lost more than $30 billion due to the pandemic (https://variety.com/2020/music/news/concert-industry-lost-30-billion-2020-1234851679/). According to Variety, “the projected $30+ billion figure includes unreported events, ancillary revenues, including sponsorships, ticketing, concessions, merch, transportation, restaurants, hotels, and other economic activity tied to the live events, according to the [Pollstar] report.”
Now, the question is, what is the future of live events?
There have been hundreds of articles speculating the return of live entertainment; some think the future is solely virtual, others say it will be with socially distant methods, and others claim that one day fully in-person packed concerts may be able to make a comeback.
Since live concerts have been postponed indefinitely, plenty of artists have taken the path of performing live-streamed concerts; The Weeknd featured in a live event in August with WaveXR Inc. and TikTok- drawing approximately 3 million viewers. Billie Eilish performed for fans using a streaming platform created by Maestro Interactive Inc. based in Playa Vista- the virtual tickets costing $30 each; Eilish’s performance also offered a virtual merchandise shop and a comments thread in which viewers could chat with one another throughout the performance. There was also the famous appearance of Travis Scott within the game Fortnite back in April 2020; viewers could interact via Avatar forms, and the event even included backstage and VIP access.
Following these successful virtual live streams, a few other companies have started dipping into this newly revived market. Recently, according to the LA Business Journal, “Sony Corp. revealed at this year’s virtual Consumer Electronics Show that it had launched a new Los Angeles-based division called Sony Immersive Music Studios, which is producing a series of ticketed virtual concerts with singer Madison Beer set to take place later this month.” (https://labusinessjournal.com/news/2021/mar/01/are-virtual-concerts-future-live-entertainment/). These decisions have brought a sense of longevity to the virtual concert world.
On the other end of the spectrum, the UK has displayed a potential for live events making a return. Announced on February 22 of this year, the UK government published a roadmap of their planned recovery from lockdown. Following this announcement, LiveNation sold over 170,000 tickets within three days to UK festivals this summer (https://www.nme.com/news/music/live-nation-have-sold-170000-uk-festival-tickets-since-roadmap-announcement-2890218). Of course, this comes with restrictions such as the limited capacity to 1,000 people or half-capacity- whichever is lower- for indoor venues. For outdoor venues, the capacity is higher at either 4,000 people maximum or half-capacity (also whichever is lower). Additionally, it is stated that “From June 21 at the earliest, all social distancing rules are set to be removed, which seemingly signals a green light for festivals of all sizes to return,” (https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/uk-festivals-2021-music-line-ups-best-tickets-a4498056.html).
There are still plenty of questions left unanswered. For instance, are only vaccinated people allowed to go? Will the venues be required to provide COVID testing for all attendees? Will the government help to aid in costs if these festivals are canceled? While ticket-purchasers are entitled to a full refund if the festivals are canceled, it is not yet clear whether the government or the festival organizers will be burdened with those refunds.
In the grand scheme of things, it is uncertain whether concerts will ever go back to being as they were or if they will be able to return with strict social distancing enforcement. For instance, there have been cases of live concerts planning to separate the audience into “pods” for each group of attendees to be corralled together and be six feet from their neighboring attending groups. To give a clearer image of what this may look like, groups at a maximum of five or six are each assigned a designated square of area (fence-and-gated or otherwise marked by some other labeling); each “gated” area is placed in a grid, six-feet-apart from other similarly situated groups. Variations of this socially distant concert are sure to pop up as we proceed into the future.
The discussion of the live event industry’s future has been covered by many sources; one notable statement made by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID. He claimed, assuming somewhere around 70% to 85% of the US population has been vaccinated, that it can be possible for live events to return sometime in the Fall of 2021 (https://www.nme.com/news/music/dr-anthony-fauci-live-shows-should-return-us-this-autumn-2853851).
Unfortunately, there is no definite solution to the life-threatening situation that the live entertainment industry now faces. Nobody can be certain when that solution will be discovered; however, the industry is crawling with creative minds and intelligent innovators constantly finding ways to keep their companies alive even in the worst of times. Technology and trends and environments are constantly in motion; being able to think critically and on-your-feet is vital for an industry such as entertainment.
For live music lovers, the future may seem grim; however, there is comfort in knowing that the entertainment industry has not yet given up on trying to bring the rushing adrenaline, pounding music, and cheering crowds back into the arenas- one way or another.
Sources:
https://variety.com/2020/music/news/concert-industry-lost-30-billion-2020-1234851679/).
https://labusinessjournal.com/news/2021/mar/01/are-virtual-concerts-future-live-entertainment/
https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/uk-festivals-2021-music-line-ups-best-tickets-a4498056.html
https://www.nme.com/news/music/dr-anthony-fauci-live-shows-should-return-us-this-autumn-2853851
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