Local Venues Are Closed, Corporate Venues Are Booked. How has COVID-19 impacted the live events space?

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted many industries. The truth is,  no industry was as severely impacted as the entertainment industry, more specifically, live events and concerts. The past year has left many music lovers stuck inside thinking “When will this all end so I can get back out and see my favorite artists again?” It has also left many local venue owners wondering if they can still pay the bills. Avid concert goers and self-proclaimed music industry analysts have been wondering the same thing. While the industry quickly adapted a live stream-based format, most of those events left a lot to be desired. Now, with many states easing their COVID restrictions and the CDC federal guidelines changing weekly, it would appear that we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and that the live concert industry is gearing up for a revival, right? Well, the answer is complicated, and it's not exactly what you might think. Many locally owned and operated concert venues which serve artists who are on a smaller scale, are still struggling to reopen in a post-pandemic world.

While last year saw the postponement or cancellation of many major tours and events, the past few weeks, we have seen the stark opposite. The major announcement of rescheduled dates for regional tours, stadium tours and festivals alike has taken over social media feeds, with a new announcement or lineup addition every day. Although these events will be happening with restrictions, many people flocked to purchase tickets, some even at inflated prices. This just goes to show that demand for live entertainment is higher than it ever has been before. But are the local music venues able to keep up?

Local music venues are perhaps some of the most important in the live entertainment industry, because they provide the backbone. Not only as a part of the community, but they are fundamental to building success for artists. In fact, they are the places where most of your favorite major artists got their start and were discovered. There is a large gap between the locals and the corps, and it is more apparent now as we shift to the revival of the live entertainment industry. 

This is troubling both for the local venue operators, small scale or independent artists and independent record labels, who might not have the established connections with major corporate booking companies to get their artists the time they need to shine. Simply put, without local music venues, can the music industry really keep growing? 

While big venues, and those owned by corporate entities are able to start opening and offering entertainment, the locals get left in the dust, empty and cold, some having to close their doors forever because they could not sustain themselves. One notable example is Revolution Music Hall, a venue on Long Island who recently closed its doors for good. Hundreds of great shows took place there over the years and it became a staple. The loss was devastating to the Long Island community. For touring independent artists across the nation, they relied on the venue for its location and its capacity.  

So, what’s the big idea here? You might be thinking “Why can’t the local music venues just open their doors again?” The answer to that is simple: money and space. With the reduced capacity for events in many areas of the country, most local venues are too small to be able to make profits on their events. Further backing these claims, let’s take some cues from a real-life situation. During the past weeks and months, we at EAR have been working hard to assess the state of the live music industry. For example, after contacting over 150 venues across the East Coast, just ten of them were able to pick up the phone and give some type of response. The most common response was “[we] aren't sure when we would be able to have live music return to our stage.” 

The problem at hand here: a lot of local venues are shut down, and may not return. Indie artists are losing a source of income (the largest source of income besides merchandising) and the major players are too big to realize all the smaller folks that need help. We’re entering into a very new, strange time as the music industry slowly oils back up into the machine it once was. We are on the brink of seeing a huge shift in the way booking shows and events happen within the next year or two. All we need to do now is sit and patiently wait, crossing our fingers with every breath that local venues shall once again return.