Bigger COVID-19 worry?

[City]

Eventually, even the staunchest musician supporters of self isolation have got to pay bills. The Taylor Swifts of the world have quite a nest egg, I suppose, but she also has people to pay, houses to pay for. Maybe she can make it a year or two, with her current business requirements. Those mid level "new artists" or the vintage artists who live off of the tour, things at home might have to be downsized a bit. Sell the house in the LA Hills, own only one Mercedes, or Bentley. Eventually, they are going to look around and see baseball being played (it has started in Taiwan already), football being played (the draft is today), and then ask themselves when are we going out. I see, JMHO, a steep retraction of new music performers if this continues. Those folks can't live off the pennies they get from Spotify. Live streams aren't going to provide the hometown feel that a Chris Stapleton concert, or Kenny Chesney concert, or remembering the 80s with Journey, can provide. Eventually even John Mellencamp and Dave Mathews are going to have to earn some cash. I suppose their backing musicians will pressure them as well. Dave I need some cash fast. Eventually even the supporters of self isolation are going to need cash to survive. I'll sit back and watch. Sadly I have no hope for the small guy and the small town bar that supports live music. I've seen the back to work plan here in Pennsylvania (Red, Yellow, Green). So simple, but I don't see that plan addressing how to open up a small venue to allow them to make it. Guess I will go back to when I was a kid, put on my West Bruce and Laing tunes, and play along. sadly.

 

[friskinator]

i agree. live music in a lot of ways has already been aging out - there isn't the market, the money or the number of venues that host it now as there was even 10 years ago, and a fraction of what it was 30 years ago. I fear that this virus thing is going to erode it even further. I don't know what the new paradigm will look like, but i'm actually considering to what extent my musical career is winding down (I'm not young) and whether it is time to sell at least a few of my things. I had a good run, but it feels like it's all petering out

Same here. I've been gigging less in the last couple years, and even before the virus, I'd been losing interest. It feels weird to be sitting on a stash of expensive gear considering how bleak the outlook is. Time will tell, but I'm not optimistic.

 

[LBS-bass]

in my city, it's proliferating to a ridiculous degree. all these people mostly solo guitar stuff, pretty much BEGGING people to tune-in. And adding paypal addresses. Virtual tip jars. and virtually nobody is paying attention. it's sad. it's delusional. it should be beneath some of them. for some, they just want to play (but then why beg for $?). For others, its a desperate plea for relevance. I get the idea that some of their egos cannot fathom that there is nobody to play in front of them during this shut-down. Hey, I'm a musician. I miss playing too. but I sure as hell am not going to "live-stream" my band. I would be 100% against it. I mean, do what you wish, but literally some of them have come back on FB virtually dressing people down for NOT tuning in, for NOT giving them money. it's rather sickening.

A few people are trying it here, but it's not exactly going over well. Nobody wants to see local bands playing and singing poorly while wearing masks and standing six feet apart from each other, being broadcast live using an iPhone through a crappy microphone, played back on a an iPhone or laptop with crappy speakers or earbuds.

It just doesn't work for a variety of reasons. We've had fundraisers here for local venues to help them stay afloat and, while I tuned in for a minute and sent in the donation I could afford, I could have lived without the "musical experience" of watching a bunch of unrehearsed locals sing off-key and overdrive the mics in their phones. Sorry, but the livestream experience is better for building buzz around an event or performer rather than actually providing something entertaining.

I mean, yeah, my band could maybe pull off something a little bit more polished in terms of performance, but I don't think the quality is there in terms of what most of us have to interface with the tech that gets it out there.

 

[sears]

At the risk of sounding facetious, live music has survived for how long? Through how many catastrohophes? I bet we will still need live music to help us make unhealthy decisions.

 

[City]

At the risk of sounding facetious, live music has survived for how long? Through how many catastrohophes? I bet we will still need live music to help us make unhealthy decisions.

I sure so hope....perhaps we will be going back to the Speakeasy days of the prohibition. Bouncer at the door in a basement of a rundown site. It's who you know in order to get in. Americans had done that kinda stuff when forced to in the past. Although policing the illegalities of social interaction will be easier with the advent of electronic tracking (phone).

 

[sears]

a Tone Hammer 500 will sure help the authorities find the speakeasy

 

[Ryan L.]

in my city, it's proliferating to a ridiculous degree. all these people mostly solo guitar stuff, pretty much BEGGING people to tune-in. And adding paypal addresses. Virtual tip jars. and virtually nobody is paying attention. it's sad. it's delusional. it should be beneath some of them. for some, they just want to play (but then why beg for $?). For others, its a desperate plea for relevance. I get the idea that some of their egos cannot fathom that there is nobody to play in front of them during this shut-down. Hey, I'm a musician. I miss playing too. but I sure as hell am not going to "live-stream" my band. I would be 100% against it. I mean, do what you wish, but literally some of them have come back on FB virtually dressing people down for NOT tuning in, for NOT giving them money. it's rather sickening.

There’s a LOT of that happening here, too. It’s getting really old, really fast. A couple members of my band have mentioned wanting to do it, and I’ve firmly said no. They can do what they want on their own, obviously, but I’m not putting the band out there like that. I’m just not interested in it one bit.