By Anton Dedvukaj
The coronavirus has affected nearly everyone in some way. Whether it be being forced to work from home, school closure, or something else, many aspects of our lives have been affected.
And the music industry hasn’t been immune either. Many music-related events have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic — from concerts, festivals, and even album release dates.
Now, worldwide tour dates from the likes of Billie Eilish and Justin Bieber have been pushed back indefinitely. Many major festivals were also pushed back, such as Coachella, or flat-out cancelled, such as Governor’s Ball. Finally, some album release dates were also affected. Most notably, Dua Lipa released her album a week earlier than announced, and Lady Gaga’s album was postponed indefinitely. Needless to say, the music industry has been affected by the pandemic in a number of ways.
Now, how much more will this pandemic affect the industry in the future? That’s difficult to predict. Obviously, this won’t be the end of all the events that will be inevitably postponed or cancelled due to coronavirus concerns. However, the answer to how much more the pandemic will affect the industry is also proportional to how much longer the pandemic remains dangerous. Given that there remains no end in sight to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s entirely possible that lots more events and releases will get affected.
That’s not to say alternatives haven’t been offered. Many virtual concerts have been taking place over the past few weeks. In these concerts, an artist will perform her/his songs over social media, and all her/his fans can tune in from the comfort of their own homes. This provides a safe alternative to a live concert, which, given the large amount of people that would be involved and attending, would be very dangerous.
