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THE
CONCERT BIZ
PONDERS THE ROUTE FORWARD
One step, another executive notes, is that nearly every deal will need to be renegotiated as promoters across the country ask talent to accept lower guarantees.
Then there’s the issue of ticket pricing. Promoters will need to offer refunds for any new dates, which will create new inven- tories for thousands of concerts. (We’re guessing anyone who has a ticket to see Billie Eilish or Harry Styles is going to find a way to make it work). Will promoters be able to scale the ticket prices at or close to the initial face values? Whose shows will
Fneed to be deeply discounted?
ears about the pandemic lingering will, at the least, be in the backs of venue managers’ and promoters’ minds. The industry is already wondering if new demands will be placed
on venues. Will capacities be reduced? Will there be longer gaps between events to thoroughly clean the venues? And when will the sports leagues wrap their seasons or start new ones?
The artists, too, may want reassurances they aren’t walking into an infected building. KISS was the first to cut out meet- and-greets when the coronavirus struck; if that element of a VIP package is cut out, how might that affect an artist’s take?
“The tragedy,” says Irving Azoff, “is the touring personnel and musicians who can’t exist losing a year’s pay. If we are lucky to be able to restart, there will be a mad scramble for dates and limited dollars.”
While every show is cutting into the anticipated income of
LEFT- RIGHT: MICHAEL RAPINO, JAY MARCIANO, ROB LIGHT
BA s the concert industry waits to turn the lights back on, the #1 concern is how the economy will affect the ticket-buyer. Once the all-clear has been sounded, will fans be rushing to get into confined spaces to hear music?
y Phil Gallo
“This economy is going to impact peo- ple in ways no one’s ever felt in our lifetime, ever,” one industry
executive says.
“This business has been good to all of us,” reflects one of the
most influential execs in the sector, “and now we need to take care of all the part-time contractors and other hard-hit people who make this industry work.”
This same exec expressed surprise—and dismay—that some big companies were moving so quickly to reduce staff. The first casualties on the white-collar side of the biz were at Paradigm, which announced what it called “temporary layoffs” on 3/20. The firings are said to have affected 250 of the company’s 750 staffers —and 50% pay cuts for everyone else.
One scenario is that the festivals and tours planned for March into June will be sandwiched into an August-October timeframe.
It’s possible, too, that postponed shows will result in billions of dollars being refunded to ticket-buyers. Danny Wimmer Presents became, on 3/23, the first promoter to pull the plug on 2020 fes- tivals, canceling Epicenter in Concord, N.C., 5/1-3, Welcome to Rockville in Daytona Beach, Fla., 5/8-10 and Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival in Columbus, Ohio, 5/15-17.
DWP announced, “Before accepting this fate, we worked really hard to try to reschedule the festivals. Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts, venue availabilities and a number of other factors out of our control made postponing impossible.” The three festivals will return in May 2021.
The encouraging sign, multiple execs note, is that every- one sees the issues clearly.
“There’s a real industry understanding right now by the leadership of all the big agencies, the promoters and a lot of the managers that we’re all in this together,” one music exec offers. “Everyone’s going to have to make compromises to get us through this.”
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CONCERT PHOTO: WOLFGANG/PEXELS