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roadies, crews, promoters, bookers and venue employees, the situa- tion affects the artists in a myriad of ways. Spring has been a great time for artists on the verge of breaking out—and, for many heritage acts, a way to keep food on the table and pay the mortgage. David Crosby was the first to speak up—without summer tour income, he
Tstands to lose his house.
hen there are the pop stars.
“There are artists getting ready to start major tours that
were in rehearsal that now have to shut everything down,” one promoter points out. “It’s not unusual that it’s a $10 mil-
lion expense to put an arena show on the road by the time you rehearse, get your production together, build your stage and pay for everybody during all of the preproduction. So they’re sitting on a lot of expense that often the promoters have funded.”
There is no single remedy for the industry, and with thousands of artists touring in the spring,
releases—and in many cases, ticket bundles—need to reexamine the entire playing field.
“An artist that had reasons for a spring/summer tour will have to look and ask, ‘How do I fit?’” one executive notes. “How do I draw attention? Venue size? Ticket price? Maybe it’s better to wait
Iuntil 2021.”
n early March, concert-industry executives were looking at a variety of scenarios. At best, they were hoping to have shows and festivals being staged around Memorial Day. The second-
best scenario had amphitheaters up and running by mid-July, and the worst-case scenario was October—to which Coachella, Shaky Knees and Bottle Rock have all been moved. (JazzFest has October penciled in as well).
By the third week of March, at least one concert promoter was thinking we may as well move to 2021.
summer and fall, it calls for a lot of artist-specific solutions.
Take the artists who will be forced to embark on “Swiss- cheese tours,” the sort that begin as blocks and then get holes punched into them. How many dates can they afford to lose and still stay on the road? In one extreme example, a promoter asks: What happens when a planned New York stadium date on a Saturday becomes a Tuesday at Madison Square Garden and the next stop is three days away?
“Across the industry, the majority of shows have come to a halt selling tickets,” one promoter says. “And what happens if you have to move a show twice? That’s asking a lot of fans.”
Any acts that planned to use a collection of festivals as a tent- pole will have to regroup, espe- cially as so many are flocking toward October. The fall, assum- ing shows are back on track by then, is likely to be packed.
“When you spend a year planning for these major events, you’ve got the luxury of long conversations with art- ists, representatives—you’re navigating through all of that,” says one major concert pro- moter. “Now, they just can’t
go for one show; that is not cost-efficient. They need to be thinking about other things
to put around it. So all of that needs to be in place. When you’re moving these massive festivals, it’s not easy.”
The artists who planned tours connected to album
“THIS BUSINESS HAS BEEN GOOD TO ALL OF US, AND NOW WE NEED TO TAKE CARE OF ALL THE PART-TIME CONTRACTORS AND OTHER HARD- HIT PEOPLE WHO MAKE THIS INDUSTRY WORK.” —A TOP LIVE-MUSIC EXECUTIVE
“
AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE INSTINCT AND DESIRE OF YOUNG PEOPLE TO BE IN A DARK ROOM WITH HUNDREDS OR THOUSANDS OF THEIR PEERS LISTENING TO AMAZING ARTISTS AND SHARING A COMMUNAL EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE IS NOT GOING AWAY.” —ATTORNEY JEFFREY LIGHT
HITS March 30, 2020
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PHOTO: WENDY WEI/PEXELS