If you had concert tickets for an event in 2020, chances are you had to get your money back amidst all the cancelations.

The concert promotion industry took a big hit after the pandemic. It resulted in the cancelation of thousands of shows worldwide. If you’re wondering about the pandemic’s full effects on the music industry, you came to the right place.

Read on to learn about the effects of COVID-19 on the concert industry.

Music Industry Overview

Worldwide, the music industry is worth an estimated $50 billion. Although the music industry is worth billions, it gets is revenue from two main sources, live ticket sales, and recorded music.

Live performances and ticket sales make 50 percent of the global music industry. This income comes from performing artists booking worldwide tours.

Recorded music makes up the other 50 percent of the music industry. The revenue derived from recorded music comes from digital downloads, physical sales, streaming, licensing music for movies, television, and advertising.

Effects of COVID-19 On the Music and Concert Industry

As we mentioned before, live music makes 50 percent of the music industry’s revenue. Performing artists rely on ticket sales from ticketsonsale.com and other platforms. They also employ thousands of people.

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the music industry took a hit and was forced to get creative to adjust to the new normal.

Streaming and Sales

Aside from changing the way people live and interact with one another, the global pandemic also changed the way people listen to music. Even though it was expected for concert ticket sales to drop amidst the lockdowns, recorded music revenues also took a hit.

At the start of the pandemic, digital sales and streaming dropped 7.6% in March.

While there was not much activity at the start of the pandemic, the live concert industry started to bounce back. Without concerts to attend, music fans began relying on video streams, on-demand music video streams, and digital live performances.

Advertising

Without concerts and shows to promote, the music industry had to change its advertising spending. Many concert promoters reported they paused all advertising for the first half of 2020.

As stay at home restrictions eased, the concert industry started to bounce back with the help of drive-in concerts. Although the industry still operated at a reduced 46% advertising spending, concert promoters switched to promoting drive-in events.

With the help of drive-in concerts, performers and crews once again had a source of income.

Distribution

Due to the lack of touring, music distributions have also taken a hit. Because they’re unable to tour to promote new albums, many performing artists have put off releasing new music.

Aside from the cancelation of live shows and album releases, this also affected merchandise sales. Due to the lack of distribution and concert cancelations, the live event industry lost $10 billion during a 6-month period.

Will 2021 Bring Back the Concert Industry?

Now that you know more about the COVID effects on the concert industry, you’ll know how to support performing artists.

As the concert and music industry adjusted to the new normal, COVID affected how concert promoters streamed, advertised, and distributed.

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