😷 Splice and locked down musicians; Vinyl sales rock on; Major labels generate $1m p/h from streaming; Band shirts into face masks; Singing no riskier than talking; 13 dead in Peru disco stampede
Daily update for the music business on the coronavirus (August 24)
Fans crowd into an indoor concert in experiment on how to return to normality (CNN)
Researchers in the German city of Leipzig staged a 1,500-person experimental indoor concert on Saturday to better understand how Covid-19 spreads at big, busy events, and how to prevent it. At the gig, which featured a live performance from musician Tim Bendzko, fans were given respiratory face masks, fluorescent hand gel and electronic "contact trackers" -- small transmitters that determine the contact rates and contact distances of the individual experiment participants. Using data from the contact trackers, scientists from The University of Halle will monitor the number "critical contacts" had by each participant during specific times and locations, while the residue left by fluorescent hand gel will identify frequently touched surfaces.
Splice is giving locked down musicians a lifeline (Wired)
Splice has raised $104.5 million in venture funding since launch. During the coronavirus lockdown period, it reported a nearly 50 per cent increase in daily sound downloads, to 1.1 million. The royalties it pays represent a new revenue stream for musicians at a difficult time for the industry.
Vinyl sales rock on in spite of Covid-19 (Yahoo Finance)
But the demand for vinyl records was too strong to keep the industry down. Manufacturing quickly got back to normal, and, in the US, 2020 unit sales are up over 17% from 2019. The appeal of the record, with its tangibility, beauty and history, just keeps on growing." But the demand for vinyl records was too strong to keep the industry down. Manufacturing quickly got back to normal, and, in the US, 2020 unit sales are up over 17% from 2019. The appeal of the record, with its tangibility, beauty and history, just keeps on growing.
Stat Of The Week: The pandemic has hit the major labels this year… but they’re still generating over $1m per hour from streaming (MBW)
We first reported in February that the major labels had surpassed the milestone of generating more than $1m per hour from streaming. That memorable number stayed consistent in Q2 – despite the negative impact of COVID-19 (and those lighter-than-usual release schedules). In calendar Q2 2020, according to MBW’s calculations, the majors collectively generated $24.3m per day, or – oh yes – $1.01m per hour in recorded music revenues from streaming.
Musicians' new gig: Turning concert T-shirts into face masks during coronavirus pandemic (USA Today)
So far, the collaborative has distributed 20,000 masks to hundreds of organizations. Musicians and bands can donate shirts on the Music4Masks site. You can donate to the groups' current project Operation School Bus to get masks to schools. Schools can get kits of 35 ready-to-sew masks, too.
Singing “no riskier than talking” says Covid study (IQ Mag)
Jonathan Reid, director of ESPRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Aerosol Science and professor of physical chemistry in the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol, and a corresponding author on the paper, says: “The study has shown the transmission of viruses in small aerosol particles generated when someone sings or speaks are equally possible with both activities generating similar numbers of particles.”
[ed. note: this paper is yet to be peer reviewed]
13 dead in Peru disco stampede after police lockdown raid (Billboard)
Franco Asensios, one of those who attended the party, told local radio RPP that the police raid started at 9 p.m. and that authorities told the party-goers to let the women exit first. “People got excited and started to go down, and then they said that the people in front were suffocating,” said Asensios, who added that a friend who took him to the party had found out about it through social media.
'We lost the love': UK nightclubs using Covid crisis to reassess scene (The Guardian)
Cowdrey [aka Luke Unabomber] said he believes lockdown has given dance music a chance to reset and reassess, rather than just stare into an existential abyss. “It feels like in dance music there’s been this kind of bass tsunami of whitewashing,” he said. “I’m hoping when we return it will be about showing the roots of our music, which is primarily black, gay music from Chicago, New York and Detroit.”
Covid-19 lay-offs hit Dutch live market (IQ Mag)
The lay-offs at Friendly Fire follow redundancies at other Dutch live entertainment stalwarts, including the country’s leading promoter, Live Nation-owned Mojo Concerts, which has laid off around a third of its staff, according to VPRO. Other Dutch industry professionals to have lost their jobs in recent months include staff at arenas Ziggo Dome (14 of 34) and AFAS Live (10 of 25) and pro-AV company Ampco Flashlight Group.
Sturgis rally linked to 15 Minnesota COVID-19 cases, including 1 hospitalization (Star Tribune)
The department has issued three public health notices thus far for business exposures related to the rally, Piroutek [of the South Dakote Department of Health] said. Notices are issued, she said, when an individual is unable to identify people they were in close contact with while able to transmit the virus.
Government's Culture Recovery Fund 'saves 135 music venues' with emergency grants (Music Week)
The accelerated funding has been delivered by Arts Council England in under a month to save grassroots venues previously facing insolvency. The emergency grants of up to £80,000 will cover on-going running costs incurred during closure, including rent and utilities, so that some of the country’s most vulnerable venues can survive.
Music
We’ve highlighted several articles over the past months that discuss how artists made music videos during lockdown. The National has a great collection of Arab music videos created over the past months. Including one from a band I like a lot Sons of Yusuf:
MUSIC x CORONA goes out every weekday and is composed by Bas Grasmayer and Maarten Walraven.
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