đ· Spotify's virtual events feature; Daily livestreams pay the bills; Viagogo takes out $330 million loan; Indie venues worry of having to sell; What's up with the VMAs?
Daily update for the music business on the coronavirus (August 28)
Hi everybody - this is the last email in this format for now. Starting from next week, weâll be changing up the format to add more depth. More about that after the weekend.
A big thank you to all readers who answered our survey.
Stay healthy,
Bas
Josh Daniel's Daily Livestreams Pay The Bills (Pollstar)
The singer-songwriter and guitarist has surpassed 160 consecutive performances on Facebook Live. In the process, heâs attracted a vast audience and has generated enough revenue to feed his family and pay the mortgage during the pandemic.Â
All write now? Insuring events in the age of Covid (IQ)
One suggestion from Howell is to increase the tax on insurance premiums, in line with VAT, and reserve the excess for cancellation cover. âMost people are used to paying 20% VAT. On insurance, you pay 12% so even if you increase it to 15 and siphoned off that 3%, it would create a pot of money through insurance that is available to bail out in case of cancellation. Itâs similar to what the US did after 9/11 when they increased premiums and siphoned off a small percentage in case your business or event gets affected by terrorism,â says Howell.Â
Financially Vulnerable, Independent Music Venues Worry Of Having To Sell (NPR)
In addition to the sheer financial losses felt daily, these independent owners have taken out their own lines of credit â in some cases, against their own homes and property â making a buyout offer all the more tempting.Â
Music venues warn: âThereâs no guarantee weâll all see funding or re-openâ (NME)
We suddenly went from being a music venue to a clothes store. Iâve been designing and putting out merchandise on a monthly basis and weâll be launching a new range in October. We also set up a coffee shop outside of our building as we try to create revenue. Weâre also setting up membership clubs with ticket discounts for when to reopen.
Chris Pritchard, Tunbridge Wells Forum
How To Get (some of) Us Back To Work (Jethro Tull)
With real extractor (not recirculation) fans above the stage, it should be possible to remove any virus-infected aerosol droplets within seconds rather than minutes. Evidence shows that on-stage hazer smoke (also ± 1 micron size) dissipates upwards very quickly in some theatres to the dismay of lighting directors!
What in the World Is Going On at the VMAs? (Rolling Stone)
With just days to go, music fans still have no idea what theyâre going to be watching. The VMAs were set to take place at Brooklynâs Barclays Center, but MTV abruptly nixed the venue two weeks ago after consulting with local health officials. Instead, performers will pop up in various outdoor locations across New Yorkâs boroughs; MTV and its parent company Viacom have been vague about whether fans will be allowed at these shows, though, stating only that audiences will be âlimited.â
Spotify is developing a âvirtual eventsâ feature (TechCrunch)
A shift to include virtual event listings instead of live concerts wouldnât be difficult for Spotify to implement. The company already works with ticketing partners including Ticketmaster, Songkick, Resident Advisor, Eventbrite, AXS and eplus in Japan. These ticketing sites have embraced virtual events amid the pandemic as way to keep their businesses afloat while in-person events were delayed and shut down over health concerns.
Viagogo takes out $330 million loan, says Moodyâs (IQ)
Moodyâs suspects the excess cash will remain on Viagogoâs balance sheet to ensure liquidity is available to manage operations through the pandemic and will not be used to fund distributions or acquisitions.
Music
Disclosure just released their new album ENERGY, which Iâve been listening to while composing the newsletter (out on all streaming services - I donât want to play favourites). A good variation of music set to a 4x4 beat, which made it perfect for background listening, but I suspect also for deeper listening. Will be a while before people get to hear these tracks in a club though. As part of their release strategy, they created a virtual world of the album art in Minecraft:
MUSIC x CORONA is composed by Bas Grasmayer and Maarten Walraven.
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