How COVID-19 Is Both Tearing Down and Building Up the Music Industry

By Delanee Wilson

The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a harsh economic toll on the music industry, but the community has found ways to support one another and remain resilient through the turmoil.

The decline started slowly with a few concert cancellations in Asia and Europe, but was soon followed by the rescheduling of industry-giant music festival Coachella and the cancellation of global music conference South by Southwest, according to Rolling Stone. As of today, concert promoters AEG and Live Nation have suspended all of their shows and all venues, from arenas to dive bars, have closed their doors.

Live music accounts for a majority of the music industry’s gross revenues. “The music industry is required to reevaluate its other businesses and try to compensate for the lost revenues from recorded music by increasing revenues from music licensing and live music,” says Patrick Wikström via BBVA OpenMind. With recorded music revenues in decline in the digital era, many artists rely on constant touring to stay afloat, but cannot do so due to COVID-19.

Not only are artists seeing an indefinite halt in live performances, but recorded music revenues are taking a hit, too.

“During the week of March 13th through March 19th, streams dropped 7.6 percent, to under 20.1 billion,” reported Rolling Stone. A decline in streaming activity is detrimental, as RIAA reported that streaming accounted for 79% of recorded music revenues in 2019, according to Billboard.

Despite the chaos, music companies of all sizes have joined together to provide relief for artists who may be struggling during the crisis. According to Rolling Stone, the Recording Academy and MusiCares launched the COVID-19 Relief Fund with an initial $2 million donation in effort to assist musicians encountering financial loss. They have since received donations from streaming services such as Spotify, Tidal, and SiriusXM.

On Friday, March 20, Bandcamp waived its revenue share for all music and merchandise sales to help support artists and labels, according to Billboard. Bandsintown organized a virtual music marathon from March 26–27, pledging all proceeds to the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund, and will continue to host “mini-marathons” every Thursday with the same goal in mind.

Digital ticketing platform AXS has compiled a list of ways to support artists and live music professionals during the pandemic.

“There’s a ray of hope in all this,” said AXS’ Vanessa Vallon, “the fans and the community.”