Live music rebounds amidst ongoing covid-19 concerns.

Last month, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced strong growth for 2021 year end across all ‘major formats of music’. Additionally, recorded music revenues in the United States grew by 23% to $15 billion in estimated retail value. This is a strong vote of confidence in the recorded music industry. By contrast, live music has yet to reach such heady heights of recovery following covid-19, and is still plagued by ongoing concerns.

Despite gigs coming back across the UK - notably in the ‘film with live orchestra’ category - there are stories of some events being cancelled owing to a lack of ticket sales. With data suggesting that the covid-19 pandemic is still prevalent in the UK and abroad, some fans are understandably cautious in returning to music events.

Contrastingly, with mask-wearing being left to the discretion of venue-operators, there are concerns that fans attending events and not being cautious risk a full return to live music for the industry. This has led to some musicians to call for fans to ‘mask-up’ to protect the health of consumers and the revenue of artists.

Hope, however, is on the horizon. UK Music chief executive, Jamie Njoku-Goodwin has said that the announcement of major festivals - including Glastonbury and BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend - pressing ahead for this summer show signs of turning a corner in recovery. Combined with recent data suggesting case numbers are declining in the past week, the summer is looking rosy for live music.

Therefore, as we join Glasto in looking ahead to those sunnier times, following the advice of musicians, industry and government officials in taking sensible precautions will keep the industry on a firm line to recovery.