The global crisis owing to the Novel COVID-19 virus has seen the collective music industry suffering from significant losses affecting both live and recorded sessions.
Industries, verticals, sectors around the world are going through one of the toughest economic challenges of all time due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic leaving everyone in a state of complete economic chaos. The music industry is no exception as the natural flow of the whole industry has reached almost a standstill because of the lockdowns and the wave of terror that has everyone stuck in their respective homes. The music industry depends intermittently on live concerts and sales. With the news shaking the whole world at one jolt, they too had to take action and shut it down completely till the jeopardy ceases to exist. Music festivals, tours, live concerts, and gigs worth of over a year’s timeline is at a dangerous standstill.
With social distancing, isolation, and quarantined state of living stirring everyone’s schedule into a scratchy confusion, the music industry too received the backlash to a considerable degree. The following takes us into the depths of the reverse motion of the music industry during such times and how they are keeping up in maintaining the distance from the audience.
Online Audio Streaming
The only misnomer in the standstill of services that is helping people to coordinate work and clients in an effortless management cycle is doing online integration of work from home. As per statistic reports released by Music Business Worldwide, the global streaming count of the Spotify Top 200 chart received an 11% drop that led to 226 million plays. This was in the week taking off from 13th March onwards with Spotify’s weekly runs play between Fridays and Thursdays. March 13th was an important date on global standards as most countries began to recall and close down workplaces, malls, bars, restaurants, schools, universities, etc. in an attempt to put people and inhabitants in self-isolation. And surprisingly enough, Spotify runs its lowest streaming week during that period. This setback in the number of streams was the lowest this year except for the first week of January when there is a repeating pattern of low releases by artists.
Online Video Streaming
With Italy as the source of research, it has been found that with a 10% decline in audio streaming around the week of 6th Match whereas video streaming increased by a surprising 14.5% following the week of March 13th. The conclusion reads that with more and more people staying indoors, their consumption behavior of music may have changed that instigated the spike.
In spite of the increase in viewership, the sales figures of physical and digital albums and singles are all going through substantial losses. These platforms are also noticing a shift in their rush-hour because of the stay-in policy across the world. Spotify has however launched the COVID-19 Hub, a relief project that allows audiences to tune in to curated playlists, podcasts, and news, a consolidated web of both creative, cultural, and social maintenance.
Radio
The performance of digital radio has also been commendable. BBC saw an 18% increase in their radio properties while Global informed a whopping 15% increase in the combined online radio streaming of Capital FM and LBC 97.3 between 9th and 17th March. They also reported an 11% increase in radio streaming through smart speakers marking their highest footfall in weekly terms. On top of that, Alexa’s fah briefings also increased an astonishing 156% hike in streaming.
LBC has bagged a 43% hike in daily streaming, Heart by 11%, and Smooth Radio by 12%. The dynamic virtues of broadcast media along with people constantly anxious about news updates and also a lot of time in hand to explore new premises have collectively helped achieve the high. From KNX to iHeart Radio, everyone reported a significant hike in engagement metrics, some of the biggest figures the company has seen in the history of their establishment.
Live Gigs
The coronavirus outbreak put a complete stop to every social gathering that included live concerts, festivals, and gigs to be postponed until further notice. The ban on gatherings of more than 500 people came into effectivity in the UK on 16th March. Festivals began to cross their dates out. Glastonbury posted a huge notice on the cancellation of their 50th-anniversary bash in 2020 while Coachella also put up their official postponement till October. Apart from some of the biggest music festivals of the world, indie festivals like The Association of Independent Festivals have also suffered a 44% dip in their ticket sales among which about 92% of people cited coronavirus as the reason for cancelation.
Music Venue Trust and music companies like AEG and Live Nation have all gone through the dip which resulted in artists adapting to other ways to connect with their fans. Many musicians have put up live shows online to share their creative and social unanimity during these dark hours. Artists are using social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube to celebrate as well as stand in solidarity with the global distress. Other interesting online, creative counterparts are multiple artists recording songs separately and editing them out into one full module or live music battles. All of these are being accepted by the audience as they are willing to find respite from the tough situation through the songs of their favorite artists.
Supporting Artists
Since concert and album sales are at an absolute halt, music companies like Bandcamp were among the first to temporarily bring in revenue distribution for their artists. Spotify’s COVID-19 Music Relief Project is another attempt at bringing about financial support if situations steer towards a no-income time bracket for the artists. They are also raising money for COVID relief charities through public donations. Apple Music’s Come Together is also a dedicated launch aiming to give people the respite of music during such testing times along with 90-days free use.
As the crisis continues to significantly affect music companies, record labels production houses, agencies, streaming services and more, everyone is trying to create a world of resonating perspectives through music, culture, creativity, love, and empathy. With a situation that is beyond human control, we can only hope to see the better side, stay strong, and enrich our musical boundaries while we are at it.