Live Entertainment Industry on Life Support

By: Bruce Wawrzyniak

It’s Labor Day, when lots of people get the day off from work to, well, have a day off as a reprieve from all that they do every day at their job.  While the 2020 edition will probably look different thanks to the still-prevailing Coronavirus, this typically is a day when people will have a cookout and/or do some kind of family picnic.  Still others, though – and in large numbers, I might add – will say, “Ya’ know what?  It’s a day off from the job.  Let’s not do any work here.  How about if we have someone else do the cooking?  We’ll go out somewhere, get something to eat, listen to some live music, and relax.”

Sounds good, right?  Although one element in there is looking really, really precarious these days.

For months and months now, some part of the conversations I have every week with guests on “Now Hear This Entertainment” end up including the huge impact of the pandemic on live music.  While some have said that they’ve done some livestreams, that’s a knock off of what they really do.  While the pay scale isn’t comparable by any stretch of the imagination, it’s kind of like the NBA currently playing in venues in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, that look like college or high school teams should be competing there, not the pros.

And for recording artists, at home in front of a camera not only isn’t going to do it, but, if some action isn’t taken immediately, the venues that scores of them are used to plying their trade at will be gone.

In a blog I wrote two-and-a-half months ago there was a reference to an NPR report just under two weeks earlier that said 90% of independent clubs, festivals, and other music venues could close – permanently.

How serious is this?  The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) is making a push to get Congress to pass a Save Our Stages Act and a RESTART Act to ensure the survival of independent venues, theatres, and even the event promoters across the United States.

Pointing out that they were the first to close and will be the last to re-open, the venues are not an option for the American public on this Labor Day holiday, nor will they be next month at Halloween, the month after for Thanksgiving, or the month after that for Christmas or New Year’s, not to mention all the days in between.  And as a result, performers have fewer and fewer and fewer outlets to go put on a show that isn’t their house or apartment.

Of course, all the while, operating expenses for those venues (i.e., electric bill, mortgage or rent) and routine bills that performers have (i.e., electric bill, mortgage or rent) continue.

Understand that this touches not only the live music industry, but it even reaches into comedy shows as well and the venues where comedians normally go to entertain audiences in-person.

It’s also important to realize how far the tentacles reach on this animal.  Venues need to be able to re-open not only for themselves and the performers that come provide entertainment there, but others are affected such as the sound and lighting industry, not to mention the neighboring bars, restaurants, and coffee shops that count on that foot traffic from people going to these performances.

Spend some time on the NIVA website, where you can even fill out a form, which will be sent to legislators.  Thousands of events have been canceled.  Jobs have been lost.  Businesses are failing.  It’s time to act.

Continue the conversation with me on Twitter via @NHT_tweets.  Alternatively, use Facebook, LinkedIn, or even email to be a part of this important discussion.

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I am a manager and publicist, running Now Hear This, Inc., an agency that has served clients across the U.S. ranging from music artists to authors to small businesses and even an Olympic athlete. Since February 2014 I have also hosted a weekly podcast (“Now Hear This Entertainment”), which has gotten listeners from 153 countries around the world. Find more about the company and the podcast at www.NowHearThis.biz. I am also a national speaker. Visit www.SpeakerBruceW.com for more information.