The Covid-19 pandemic engulfing the globe has put everything on hold.
Shops, bars and restaurants are closed, schools are shut, and millions have been urged to work from home in unprecedented scenes.
Governments across the world have enforced these measures to reduce the spread of the killer bug, which has so far claimed the lives of 465 people in the UK and almost 20,000 people worldwide at the time of publication.
Like his peers, one of the major responses enacted by Prime Minister Boris Johnson was to put a halt to large gatherings of people with immediate effect, meaning gigs and festivals – the lifeblood of any music scene – were put on hold.
It’s no surprise the UK’s music industry was going to take a big hit as a result.
Tours have been postponed, festivals like Glastonbury and the Great Escape will take place in 2021 instead, album releases have been pushed back, record stores are closed and independent and established live venues are having to shut their doors for the foreseeable future.
In the US, Coachella has been axed and SXSW – where dozens of lauded rising UK acts were due to play – also fell to the same fate.
Rather than sit still and ride it out, the scene has rallied.
Bands, artists, labels, promoters, and record shops have taken it in their stride to make the most of self-isolation and keep the world’s best music scene thriving.
The magic of social media has sparked a flurry of bands hosting live streamed “isolation” gigs from their bedrooms – many of which are to raise awareness for good causes.
Christine and the Queens, Tom Walker, Diplo, Peter Bjorn and John and Ben Gibbered from Death Cab For Cutie are a handful of the hundreds of artists holding live stream shows this week, while countless indie musicians will be doing the same.
Last week, the British Music Embassy and its partners put together a last minute showcase to support acts who were due to fly out to Austin for SXSW.
The likes of Porridge Radio, Arlo Parks, Knucks, Kokoroko and Self Esteem performed filmed live sets, which are now available to watch on YouTube via BBC Introducing.
Music platform Bandcamp donated 100% of revenue from sales to artists on Friday, helping musicians around the world make $4million.
Elsewhere, online fundraisers have been launched to ensure legendary independent music venues are able to reopen once the crisis has ended.
One in particular is the Crowdfunder incentive to support legendary Guildford venue The Boileroom. It raised £12,000 in days after the venue announced it had to make the difficult decision to close until June.
At the time of writing, the fund stands at just more than £13,000 – almost half way towards its target of £30,000.
How bands are coping with the crisis:
Daily Star Online spoke to Matt Thomson, frontman of the Q Award-nominated The Amazons, and Sean Murphy-O’Neill from rising Liverpool post-punk indie act Courting to find out their views on how the pandemic has hit the scene.
Matt Thomson – The Amazons
The Amazons’ Matt Thomson said it’s an opportunity for musicians to have an impact on society (Image: Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)
Matt was the first performer to take part in Liverpool and Manchester music venue Jimmy’s unique live-streamed events.
Just four months ago, this scenario would have been unthinkable as The Amazons graced the historic O2 Brixton Academy in front of a sell-out crowd.
Matt said: “It’s a difficult time. It’s difficult and it seems to be getting more difficult now venues are shut, there are more restrictions.
“I’m just worried about independent, grass roots venues. I saw the Boiler Room in Guildford closed recently for the foreseeable future and that is a venue that I would say most bands that have come up in the UK – everyone from The Amazons to Blossoms have played there. I remember seeing Sam Fender there. Almost anyone who is anyone in the UK scene has come through that venue.
“That’s a real measure of how serious the situation is. These grass roots venues are struggling anyway without being forced to shut.
“It’s about working out what we’re going to be left with at the end of all this. I know there are venues that are trying to do something about it and put everything online. That’s kind of what we have to do.
“We’re blessed with the technology in the world to communicate and give messages to the public and our audience. For example. Jimmy’s is a venue in Liverpool and Manchester. They’ve had to close but they’ve been doing live stream gigs on their Instagram every night. I kicked off the first one about a week ago.
“I think it’s a great way to communicate with the audience and break up do something different and direct online traffic to places like Jimmy’s which is way more beneficial to the scene, rather than having bands say ‘watch us on our own page’.
“Even just doing these live streams from my bedroom with an acoustic guitar to communicate with people – you get messages like ‘I was feeling a little bit lost or down and this has perked me up’, just seeing their favourite artist is doing the exact same thing as they are. We’re all in this together. For the first time together, we are all in this together.
“I think at times like these art and music has to step up and fulfil its role.
“We’ve seen such amazing music come out from times like the Great Depression and the wars. I wouldn’t say has an obligation to do a live stream but I’m looking around the situation now and I feel like we need music more than ever. I certainly do because I feel lost without it.
“It’s an unexplainable force to be able to put on Heroes by David Bowie or Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen, turn it up to get the neighbours p***** off. It’s that kind of feeling we can all enjoy together when tackling such unprecedented times together. Music is something we have in common that we all love. It’s a bigger opportunity more than ever for musicians to have an impact on society.
Matt Thomson from The Amazons was the first musician to take part in Jimmy’s live-stream gigs (Image: Photo by Mark Holloway/Redferns)
“I would encourage everyone to do more and talk about that independent venue that you went to on your first tour and now’s the time stand up and talk about things they’re passionate about and raise awareness. Do that cover they’ve always wanted to sing online – there’s no other time. Why wait? Get out and do what we’re supposed to do.
“I hope that it can get over the damage. Hopefully quickly. I’d like to see festivals still going because I know they will take a big hit because as are very expensive things to run. I can see a lot of music being put out next year and I can see a lot of babies being born next year.
“I’ve got nothing else to do except from drink coffee, do phone calls, sit with my guitar and write and write. Now’s the biggest opportunity, with life slowed down completely out of our control, for artists to write.
“There’s going to be some incredible music coming out next year which will certainly help. I would urge artists to write more in anticipation of lots of competition next year.
“I think lots of tours will happen. The last time anything like this happened is just out of living memory – I don’t know what the aftermath was and how society reacted. Maybe it was a very untrusting place or maybe everyone came together.
“I’d like to think people will be dying to go to shows and festivals, use their money and go out. It will be a great healer for society to come out and consume music together.”
Sean Murphy-O’Neill – Courting
Liverpool’s Courting formed in 2018 and have already supported Heavy Lungs, Sports Team and Alfie Templeman
Rising Liverpool four-piece Courting were forced to postpone a string of gigs and festival slots as the coronavirus outbreak tightened its grip on the entertainment industry.
They dropped excellent single Football in early 2020 – which enjoyed airplay on Jack Saunders’ Radio 1 show – and have supported Heavy Lungs, Alfie Templeman and Sports Team since forming a year and a half ago.
Sean said: “This matters to us because all of our schedule and songs are released by us.
“When something comes in the way and throws a spanner in the works it’s hard to get it all sorted when you’re not on advanced management. It’s a bit mad.
“I think people make the best out of a bad situation. The Bandcamp sales spiked $4.4million in a day, which is ridiculous.
“For small musicians it’s very expensive to record music and make merchandise when you don’t have support from a label, so it’s nice that people are coming together to show their support.
“We had a headline show that we were all prepared for that we’ve had to pull. On top of that we’ve had quite a few festival announcements that we were ready to throw out this week but now can’t go ahead or have been delayed until next year, which is a shame.
“You schedule your whole year around these dates. You think you’ll put out a song here after we’ve played these festivals to boost our publicity a bit. But when there’s no publicity going around it’s about trying to find new ways.
“Independently when you’ve only got a few songs there’s only so much you can do to pass the time. You can’t go outside and do shows, you can’t record music videos and stuff. It’s a learning experience trying to find new ways of promoting ourselves and being able to move forward.
Courting’s Sean Murphy-O’Neill said the Covid-19 crisis has forced the band to postpone shows and festival appearances
“We’ve been sending each other clips of songs we’ve been working on. We’ve been trying to do new merch designs so when all this blows over we’ve got stuff to do.
“On top of that we’ve joined in the whole live-stream thing too – we’ve done three in the last week. It’s a bit of a laugh. People seem to want to do them now, there wasn’t much of a demand for it before. I think we’re going to schedule in one a week to give something to do but it’s trying to find a more interesting spin. Every band is whipping out the acoustic guitar. Unless you’ve got tunes to date people aren’t going to be overly interested. I went on Instagram shaking my head and got 10 times the viewers we would have got playing people a few songs – people want to be entertained in different ways.
“The gig we were meant to be doing this week is a venue called Phase One. We personally love it. We’ve played a few shows there, one with Heavy Lungs in the past. It’s a really nice venue. It sounds good. It’s got a record shop, a cafe and a bar. It’s great.
“They announced last week they were closing for the foreseeable future and launched a Crowdfunder online. We’ve been pushing people towards it to donate so everything can work out for them.
“I’d like to hope that when this all blows over we can things can pick up where they left off. I can imagine bands being a bit less bothered making sure everything is something different and just coming together to play shows so people can have a laugh again. If we just take a bit of industry out of it, play a few shows and have a laugh.
“We’ve got to be realistic. With every cancellation you’re going to be disappointed because you’ve been working towards it.
“Keeping an air of realism about it you’ve got to look forward to the boost that will come after of this. You’ve got to keep on moving. If you let it end your career now there’s nothing you can do. You’ve got to just keep playing, keep making stuff when it helps pass the time because you’ve got nothing else to do, and the second you can record and release again, you’ve got to get back to it and give the people something to enjoy to take it off their mind.”
What the music industry is doing to help:
PRS for Music, a group that resents the rights of songwriters, campers and music publishers in the UK and globally, announced support for its members during the coronavirus pandemic by launching an Emergency Relief Fund.
The organisation is making funds available to those who have been members for at least two years and earned more than £500 in the last two years.
It says grants will be awarded based on assessment of individual need and applicants will receive support up to a value of £1,000.
Andrea C. Martin, chief executive officer of PRS for Music, said: “Our members are under threat as many parts of the music scene grind to a halt.
“They look to PRS for leadership, for support and to be the best and most trusted collecting society in the world. Members need to eat, support their families and pay rents – without industry support the future is challenging during this terrible time. Together we can get through this.”
Spotify announced it too would be supporting musicians. Its Spotify Covid-19 Music Relief Project will see the world’s biggest streaming platform donate to PRS Foundation, Help Musicians and MusiCares, as well as matching donations made via this page to a collective total of $10million.
Arts Council England confirmed plans its own Emergency Response Package, making £160million available for people and organisations in the cultural sector.
ACE chair Sir Nicholas Serota said: “None of us can hope to weather this storm alone, but by working together in partnership, I believe we can emerge the stronger, with ideas shared, new ways of working, and new relationships forged at the local, national and even international level.”
What about indie record stores?
Manchester’s Piccadilly Records was forced to temporarily close over the coronavirus outbreak and is still operating online (Image: Photo by Visionhaus/Corbis via Getty Images)
Independent record stores is another vital section of the industry hit hard.
With shops closed, almost all are having to rely on online sales to stay afloat.
In a further blow, the popular Record Store Day UK event, which sees 200 independent shops come together with special vinyl releases and live in-store shows, was postponed from April 20 to June 20.
A global campaign has been launched to help these shops shops survive.
The #Loverecordstores campaign has been launched by PIAS and supported by icon Paul Weller. It aims to support independent shops through the coronavirus crisis by asking musicians, artists, actors and celebrity music fans film short clips to support them.
Former The Jam frontman Weller said: “I’d be lost without my favourite record shops; Rough Trade, Sounds Of The Universe, Honest Jon’s and all the other independents. Let’s all keep them all going in this very strange time. Music will lift our spirits and soothe our souls. Love to everyone.”
Jason Packham, PIAS managing director, added: “Independent record stores have played a key role in supporting and developing artists and their music for decades, so now it is time for music companies and the artists they represent to step up and give something back.
“We must support these small businesses if they are to survive this crisis and at the same time we can still play a big part in helping them to continue to introduce their customers to new music.
“By speaking directly to their audiences about the importance of record stores and encouraging music fans to continue shopping with them online, artists can play a big part in helping secure the survival of this vital part of our industry.”
Laura Kennedy, co-owner of Manchester’s Piccadilly Records, said: “Piccadilly Records has been around since the late 1970s and over the years we have faced lots of challenges, but nothing on the scale of what we face at the moment.
“It’s with a heavy heart therefore that we have closed our doors this weekend and it’s going to be tough.
“Our website and mail order department are going to keep going as normal while the shop is closed and there are still plenty of records being released.
“We’ve all got difficult times ahead but if we all stick together I’m sure we’ll get through. Be kind to each other and stay healthy.”
- Click here for the Boileroom’s Crowdfunder page.
- Click here for Phase One’s Crowdfunder page.
- Click here to find out more about Spotify’s Covid-19 Music Relief Fund.
- Click here to find out more about PRS for Music’s Emergency Relief Fund.
- Follow Crt
Are you a band, solo artist, independent label, venue, and record shop affected by the Covid-19? We want to know of fundraising efforts, support initiatives and live-streams to help UK’s music scene through these uncertain times. Email rory.mckeown@reachplc.com
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