Young musicians and small venues struggled as the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions were implemented globally. Reviewing past interviews, with budding musicians and smaller venues on the initial impacts of the coronavirus in late 2020.
As the pandemic continued, young artists and small venues struggled economically and were being pushed to have new approaches to accommodate restrictions implemented due to the global pandemic.
“We’ve been apprehensive about organizing gigs for the future, we don’t know when Coronavirus will stop being an issue.” Ben Campbell of Second Thoughts told me.
Johnny So, managing partner of White Oak Music Hall, said that around 65% of performing acts have been postponed with no finalized dates.
“The remaining 35% is cancelled tours and we're prepared for more cancellations in 2021.” Johnny So said
Measures at the White Oak Music Hall have been implemented with socially distant concerts that have been successful despite the decreased capacity.
“As it turned out, most of our socially distanced concerts have sold out or they have done really well” Johnny So continued.
Although shows aren’t at a full capacity, people are willing to pay more showing that live music as a product still in high demand.
For budding artists, this is difficult as they haven’t yet gained big enough of a platform to perform at large venues providing social-distancing precautions.
“People who already have a platform are getting shows, small artists aren’t able to get to the quality of these big artists. There’s still so much competition and for the labels, it’s just about making money” Kelly Tia said.
Many young artists have turned to using their time in lockdown to work on new projects Second Thoughts, Kelly Tia, Will Berg and Tavian Wilson (Makar) have all released work within 2020.
“The first lockdown for me was great. I was living alone in York and had all the time in the world to do what I wanted. I entered this creative space undisturbed.” Said Will Berg
Recording music has also become a difficulty with many young artists, although many used recording studios based on their university campuses, restrictions have made it harder to access them.
“I recorded “circle me” in my bedroom” Kelly Tia told me. “I don’t have a crazy set up or anything… it’s not ideal.” She said.
“Yeah I definitely still make music I try to do something every day. I don’t have any equipment so I have to use my phone to record.” Tavian Wilson told me
Creating music as a band and even collaborating with other artists has also become more difficult as many young artists are still studying, university students being sent back home made things harder.
“I sent my producer the vocals for “circle me” he sent me the track and we produced together. He was in Singapore so the time difference was hard to plan around.” Said Kelly Tia.
Will Berg who has worked as a solo artist and also in a band said “In a band, you’re in it all together but you know that you can organize afterwards and share the responsibility of getting things going again. As a solo artist, it’s all on me.”
Due to these difficulties, many artists have turned to use social media as a platform to promote their music.
Second thoughts, an England based band, were able to gain 2k listeners in just a couple of weeks using social media. “We’ve looked at other mediums too; we’ve just gone to Tic Tok… we’re trying to harness new platforms while the competition is relatively low.” Said Jude McCreath of Second Thoughts.
Looking at the way that the music industry as a whole has changed so quickly is impressive to many and although Coronavirus has brought so many difficulties, musicians and venues were able to gain something.
“We wouldn’t have had the drive to build up our online presence if it wasn’t for lockdown,” Said Ben Campbell of Second Thoughts.
Johnny So said that venues have developed an understanding of the large demand for live events and how socially distanced venues may be used even after the pandemic hit.
“People have actually really liked this, especially if you’re older, you don’t want to be crowded by other people. I think that element will carry on into the layout of future concerts.”
For many musicians, before the pandemic, economics had shifted from CD sales to live performances, for the industry to recover fully live shows will be a critical part.
With people willing to pay more for socially distanced seating it can be a contributing factor.
Johnny said “I think we will be ok, and I think the recovery will take about 18 to 24 months. In that period, it would still be down about 20%. I think the music industry will bounce back. there’s really no replacement for Live music; it’s not a commodity product.”
Since this interview took place, live music is back in full swing and more budding musicians are creating now than ever. Despite the tough times during Covid-19, musicians and venues adapting to new ways of creating and performing. Let's keep backing them and small venues, so music can keep lifting us up. Together, we can help artists thrive and keep the spirit of music alive.
Have a Listen to the Musicians mentioned in this article:
Tavian Wilson (Makar) : https://on.soundcloud.com/1pwMSLNYUBLK4Csp7
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