😷 How the industry is putting events back on
On a combination of government protocols and local risk assessment
Hi everyone,
Just a reminder that we’ve changed the frequency and format of this newsletter this week. It’s now going out twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday. Instead of a long list of links, we’ll place more emphasis on our own perspective and connecting the dots hopefully providing actionable insights into the consequences of the current crisis.
We’ll be experimenting with the format over the coming weeks so please bear with us. Do feel free to send us any feedback you may have!
How the industry is putting events back on
What’s going on?
We’ve been seeing early glimpses of what gigs will look like within the period of the pandemic. Most of these involve new ideas around outdoor places. Think of the drive-in concerts, which are now becoming a truly global phenomenon, or the specially created outdoor arena. The arena billing itself as the first has just announced 12 more gigs. And there are more But we’re also seeing efforts that will help existing venues open up again, focusing on both the restrictions put in place because of the pandemic and the need for operational profitability (and I’m leaving aside the illegal raves for the purpose of this newsletter).
What’s new?
Across the world plans are being laid out to help music return to its live roots. The Salzburg Festival, a stallwart in classical music, went ahead over the last weeks of August and to date has seen no spike in infections. While not operating on a profit this year, the festival can serve as a blueprint for future events. Many measures were taken in reducing the number of concerts and operas as well as the number of attendees. And, of course, a festival founded in the immediate aftermath of WWI finds some romance in re-imagining itself in the middle of a pandemic 100 years on.
The Vienna Philharmonic, which performed in full force on the last day of the Salzburg Festival, has been working with scientists to determine how to rehearse and perform. This has resulted in the Performing Arts Aerosol Study. The main advice coming from this study is to play outdoors where possible, to have short socially-distanced rehearsals (30 mins), preferably in well-ventilated rooms.
While classical music seems at the forefront of developments based on scientific research, the pop, rock, and dance scenes aren’t sitting idly by. Actually, the first - perhaps only - non-socially-distanced festival happened last weekend on the island of Guernsey, where no infections have been recorded at all.
In other places, new venues are being dressed up for use to mimic the success of the UK’s Virgin Money Unity Arena, such as in Utrecht in the Netherlands. This time, the venue will be inside a massive conference hall, ready to host a maximum of 1000 punters.
Over in the UK, the Institute of Occupational Medicine has released its own study, a review of all the existing scientific evidence with a focus on its implications for the entertainment industry. The verdict comes down to the need for a risk assessment, but not a necessity to keep music venues and clubs closed. The Night Time Industries Association has immediately performed a risk assessment on the opening of clubs. The study has two main focus points: putting in place barriers to transmission - e.g. reducing crowds, mask-wearing, etc.; and mitigation of of exposure - e.g. mechanical ventilation (expect more noise!), data collection, etc.
What does this mean moving forward?
What we’re seeing is a combination of following government guidance and protocols, but couples with individual analyses based on local levels of the pandemic and local needs. Let’s hope this combination will help safely usher the return of live music.
Quick
Coronavirus has caused online physical music sales to soar (Tone Deaf)
Better music experiences come to Zoom with high fidelity audio (Scoring Notes)
Declan Costello's PERFORM study has facilitated the return of music performance. What next? (Bachtrack)
Marc Geiger: Covid-19 will give way to the Roaring (20)20s (IQ Mag)
Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium to reopen for limited capacity concerts beginning this week (CoS)
Music
I’ve been listening to the excellent new In Search of Time by Protoje. It’s a reggae album, but has a clear dancehall vibe too in some tracks. My favourite song is In Bloom with Lila Iké, her vocals providing some extra soul to Protoje’s deep voice.
MUSIC x CORONA is composed by Bas Grasmayer and Maarten Walraven.
❤️ musicxtechxfuture.com - musicxgreen.com - linkedin Bas - linkedin Maarten