Coronavirus gig and festival cancellations to cost over $100m
As gigs and festivals across Australia are cancelled due to coronavirus, the true cost to our music scene is quickly adding up. But there are ways to lend a hand, writes Cameron Adams.
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It cannot be said too often. Whenever there’s a crisis fundraiser, the entertainment industry are called upon to provide their services for free.
From fires to floods to famine, the charity concert has become the go-to event to raise money and spirits. And now, the entertainment industry needs us to give back to them.
The rampant spread of coronavirus has impacted all areas of society, but in a matter of days the live performance industry has effectively been shutdown for the foreseeable future. August, September and even October are being whispered as the earliest dates things might return to something resembling normal activity. And even then, that’s a hopeful estimation.
Australia has only a handful of musicians, actors and comedians who are financially secure and set for life. The majority only get paid when they play – and suddenly that’s no longer an option.
Over the space of just a week venues have downsized from 500 to 100 people if they still want to have an audience, but most have decided it’s safer for the health of society to shut their doors altogether.
Music festivals and concerts have been cancelled or postponed. Stage productions have been axed mid-season. Major tours due to be announced have been put on hold. The entire Melbourne International Comedy Festival won’t run this year.
That doesn’t only result in the performers losing an income, but causes a flow-on effect to venue staff, merchandise sellers, production crew, musicians, publicists, promoters, road crew, security – it takes an army to keep the industry running.
The best case scenario sees the Government announce a financial support package for the entertainment industry similar to their $715 million bailout for the aviation industry.
The website I Lost My Gig was set up last week to not only humanise the crisis for the entertainment industry, but keep track of the constant stream of lost events. As of yesterday, they’ve tallied there’s already $100 million in lost income from 65,000 cancelled events just in Australia alone, impacting 380,000 people.
Those numbers are extraordinary. But while Australia always likes to focus on sport, the Victorian music industry alone contributes $1.7 billion to the economy alone, and $15 billion nationally according Parliament’s report on the Australian music industry tabled last April. That’s going to leave a major hole, especially in an industry filled with freelancers, casual workers and sole traders who have little job security.
So until the Government steps up, how can we give back to the entertainment industry with no gigs to attend (safely)?
Firstly, if you have tickets for a gig that’s been postponed, don’t get a refund, hold out until it’s rescheduled. It’s a how-long-is-a-piece-of-string scenario right now when it comes to when regular services can resume, but leaving that money in their bank is a good sign of faith.
If your favourite artist isn’t performing (and touring is where the money is in the music industry these days), head to their website and buy merchandise or music direct from them.
There’s also platforms like Patreon, where you pay whatever you can afford to artists who can then fund their recording careers or podcasts or movies via their fans. US musician Amanda Palmer is the Queen of Patreon, offering special bonuses to her subscribers, who literally pay her wage each month.
Bandcamp is a site where fans can support musicians directly – it also allows you to discover new music the same way streaming sites do – but musicians get most of the profit, unlike other major streaming sites. It’s relatively cheap – you can buy Melbourne artist Banoffe’s new album digitally for $10 or for $35 on vinyl.
And this Friday, Bandcamp are waiving their own revenue share to put more money directly into the pocket of artists, as a gesture of good will in these bad times.
Support Act, Australia’s only charity delivering crisis relief to artists, crew and music workers, have already stepped up, and as well as offering mental health support, are taking donations for music workers impacted by the coronavirus.
If you tally up what you might have spent on theatre, comedy or music tickets over the next month or so, maybe sling that to Support Act or the acts you would have gone to see.
We turn to art in tough times to calm us, so don’t forget about the artists now doing it tough.
Cameron Adams is News Corp Australia’s national music writer.