How the Music Industry is Finding New Ways to Monetize After Being Hit Hard by COVID-19
October 12, 2020 | by Gabriela Merida
With all live music events being either cancelled or postponed until further notice, the music industry has been seriously impacted by COVID-19, and is now constantly on the lookout for new ways to monetize in order to rise from this impact. The industry has delivered many live performances since COVID-19 started, drawing in millions of viewers across the country. There was the Travis Scott performance on Fortnite that drew in 30 million live viewers, people calling Fortnite the COVID Concert Venue for Gen Z and Millenials. Most recently, the first ever live streamed concert featuring Bad Bunny, which aired simultaneously on the Uforia app and his YouTube channel, which drew in millions of live viewers as well.
The truth is, who knows if these live streamed performances will be enough to help the music industry recover from the hit it took with the cancellation and postponement of live music events. The music industry as a whole is worth nearly 50 billion dollars and live events make up 50% of total revenues, mainly derived from ticket sales to live performances. So sure, maybe streaming live performances can maintain the industry alive but we have yet to find out if or when streamed events themselves could ever make up for what live events do for the industry.
With the future being so uncertain and unpredictable, even if streamed performances are not the answer to “bounce back,” the industry will continue to find ways to recover. The industry has been and will continue to take full advantage of their audience missing their favorite artists and missing live events by continuing live streamed performances and many for an affordable price. Keeping in mind the possibility of these live streamed events continuing in 2021 or until further notice. Some of these upcoming live streamed performances will now include Rolling Loud (Loud Fest), Billie Eillish, Sam Smith, HAIM, and many more.
Sources:
https://theindustryobserver.thebrag.com/live-music-industry-recovery-covid-19-economic-report/
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/this-is-how-covid-19-is-affecting-the-music-industry/
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Gabriela Merida is a senior at California State University, Northridge studying Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations. Her interest and passion for music was what led her to pursuing a career in Public Relations. During hard and confusing times, she allows music to be louder than the chaos. Gabriela is a former Power 106, NBC, Sony Music Latin, and Beats by Dre. Music Marketing intern where she gained a lot of hands on experience working with a variety of artists and brands across the market. After graduation Gabriela hopes to land a position in the music industry, continue enhancing her skills, and growing her network.