Corona virus impact

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witzendoz

witzendoz

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The impact on the music industry here (Australia) is starting to take hold. I’m just a small player but so far for me I have had 2 well paying live sound gigs cancelled in the last 2 days. I play in several bands and so far lost 1 gig with more to follow I am sure. My saint Patrick’s day gig on Tuesday May or may not go ahead. One of the guys I play with in my acoustic duo project does not want to book any gigs as he is worried about health problems (he is now 70years old but looks much younger), so these future gigs are out. I suspect all gigs will be shut down shortly.

I was made redundant from my day job last year but have been enjoying my full time music / sound engineer life since, however I don’t get any paid time off and can see myself being locked up at home with no income. The studio may not be hit as bad but the studio is the least income for me anyway, however I suspect people won’t book as they will have no income.

How are you effected or have you not thought about it? By the way I believe everyone will catch this virus anyway just like flu and colds so keep healthy.

Alan
 
The virus outbreak is shutting down all kinds of stuff. The KY Center for the Arts has closed for 30 days. Tommy Emmanuel was scheduled for tomorrow night and has been postponed until July. Black Label Society, the opera and orchestra programs have been postponed or cancelled. Other local music venues are shutting down. All sporting events are cancelled. Even churches are cancelling services. Local school districts are going "online", closing for 3 weeks.

Its all about containment here in the US.
 
I have an upcoming gig next saturday. So far, not cancelled. It will be interesting to see how many people show up.

I think I might advertise for free toilet paper. That'll get the crowds coming.
:D
 
Went to a pub gig tonight. I was told that the pub is normally full but tonight it was half empty.
 
My band's and my wife's gigs both shut down this weekend.
 
Well the st Patrick’s day gig got cancelled as 2 band members freaked out and would not do it, however this morning the gov restricted the indoor venue numbers to a max of 50. So that’s it live gigs are over. I don’t have anything booked at all.

Alan
 
I work at two universities. Live events are cancelled for the rest of the month and beyond. It might stretch to the end of the school year. Graduation ceremonies have been cancelled. Some events will get rescheduled, many others won't.

My side work of live event video recording is also entirely stopped until further notice. All bars and restaurants are ordered closed, with take-out only.

I'm expecting many small venues to go out of business which will mean fewer opportunities for bands to play and less work for me.
 
This represents my music and sound engineer career right now

 
In this past week I'm finally seeing a few new ads on my local musician classifieds website...just a couple of "Looking for guitar, bass, drums...etc" type of thing.
I guess some people are trying to put stuff together again...though I'm not sure yet what the outlook is for clubs/bars around here. Most are not doing any live music...rather many are trying to do some half-assed "Zoom" open-mic sessions and stuff like that...but honestly, that's not going to really go anywhere.
I mean, if you're going to sit at a computer to watch some performance...there's tons of YouTube stuff from the past...and frankly, watching some guy strum-n-sing a few Beatles tunes from his bedroom, doesn't add up to any kind of live performance.

I do think that maybe by the end of the summer it should get better...but they just haven't figured out how to do the live gig, open bar, crowded dance floor...and still keep masks on and maintain social distancing.
I see some restaurants here have set up huge outdoor tents in front of their establishments (if they have the space)...and are actually doing table service.
I can't for the life of me see why doing it in a big, closed tent is any "safer" than just serving food inside...??? If anything, You have more sanitary conditions inside, than in some makeshift tent setup...but THAT is what our current policies are allowing, along with pick-up and delivery...which is also meaningless, because you still have interaction to make all that happen.
It's a lot of meaningless crap....but I guess everyone has adopted it to feel safer.

I have NO idea what studios (home, project or pro) are currently doing around here...most tend to be compact spaces, even in the pro world, so to maintain social distancing while trying to do a sessions, is not simple...unless you've got a solo artist on side of the glass and you on the other.
So then...what about the mics...how do people sing into them with masks on...?...and if you just go with a pop filter, will that keep any potential virus germs off the mics...?...never mind all the other stuff getting touched, plus the breathing/singing in what are usually closed-in spaces...like vocal booths...etc....???

All kind of crazy....
 
Orson said:
Just same as any other business.
Click to expand...

Well...I think other businesses have found way to be fully opened...only requiring you wear your mask and keeping some distance, which in a lot of places if not hard to do because they have the space, and don't have packed crowds.

Clubs/bars are all about the crowds...studios are often crammed...so it's not as simple to be open and maintain all that required distancing.
Look at concerts...how do you pack an auditorium while keeping each person 6' feet apart...? You have to do some really weird staggering of both seats and rows...and by then, you get like 1/3 the capacity, which means no real profits to be made...so why do it...etc....etc.

Wait...I think I have the solution.
If establishments would call all music gatherings "protests"...then all those social distancing and PPE safety requirements are no longer mandatory. :rolleyes: :D
 
There's a chart that doesn't claim to be scientific, but lists activities in order of risk of contracting COVID-19 (1-9 seems to be the scale, with 9 the worst). Bars are in the "9" category, especially as they are now focusing on the fact that it's close proximity to folks who are spewing lots of vapor and atomizing the virus all around them, generally by vocalizing a lot and loudly. So (corollary), if you want to work on your part of the herd immunity concept of beating this thing, go to a bar with live music.

It has, in case you've not watched the news lately, been re-opened around here for a few weeks and several friends are diving in as much as they can - some small gigs (probably tips - I don't ask), hosting open mics, whatever. Crowds are not back to normal, but from the pictures I've seen (not going myself), social distancing is a joke. Not everyone is as old as me, of course, but most are not in tip-top condition, either. So, I'm waiting to see who is the first to fall.

I don't see how clubs or small venues are going to get back to a state where they can pay performers any kind of money to sustain them purely as working musicians, unless there's a serious die-hard (unsure of pun intention or not) fan base willing to pony up a hefty door charge, or at least multi-expensive-drink minimums.

Then there's the Live Nation thing where they've basically told all the touring performers they'll get paid less, have to buy their own insurance to cover disgruntled ticket holders in the event of cancellations (since LN has stiffed pretty much everybody for this year, and how they're going to survive is probably a reasonable question). Again, a lot of folks have said it's not going to work for them to sign that contract. Whether they'll come around, or meet in the middle somewhere and we'll limp back to something like it was before, I sure don't know. I've kissed off a few hundred $ in tickets I'll never get to use for this year, so not buying any more until there's a vaccine that really works on (and doesn't kill) geezers...
 
miroslav said:
...
Wait...I think I have the solution.
If establishments would call all music gatherings "protests"...then all those social distancing and PPE safety requirements are no longer mandatory. :rolleyes: :D
Click to expand...
Much as people like to protest, I think the easiest way to stop that is to just charge admission.
 
keith.rogers said:
It has, in case you've not watched the news lately, been re-opened around here for a few weeks and several friends are diving in as much as they can - some small gigs (probably tips - I don't ask), hosting open mics, whatever. Crowds are not back to normal, but from the pictures I've seen (not going myself), social distancing is a joke.
Click to expand...

Up here in NY, it's just getting to where bars and restaurants are getting reopened...but it seems you need to have outdoor options in order to do table service...otherwise, it's pick-up or delivery.
AFA the big joke...it's the masks. I would say that 90% of them are useless for COVID-19. Very...VERY few are wearing proper masks. Most of the ones look home made or they buy them at the supermarket and they don't fit right...you can stick your finger in at the side or by the nose, and the ones that are bigger and fit tighter because they are made with spandex, they clearly state that they are NOT medical grade...so what's the point...???
I was out today...90+ degrees out...people have their masks on their chins or with their noses exposed...so again, what's the point...???

I don't want to turn this into a general COVID-19 thread, since we already have one...I was mostly wondering how all this pseudo-safety nonsense was going to translate to the bars/clubs/venues for live music.
Sure...you can charge admission...but that doesn't make the mask and 6' distance requirements go away.
So I say...let people do what they want. Those that need to feel 100% safe...continue to stay home, and all that...and let the crowds gather and let the music play.
People will get sick...but then, maybe we will get to a herd immunity point, where it just won't matter any more than when there is a bad flu season, and people still just go about their business...those who want flu shots, get them, but many don't.
AFA a vaccine for COVID-19...the soonest we might see one is sometime in October/November if the tests show it works after some human trials...but AFAIK, none of the manufacturers have gotten to the human trial yet...so waiting for that to "safe us" may be a big waste of time...IOW, with the warm weather, with everything open again...people will do what people will do, and I don't think anyone will be too receptive to another couple of months of forced shutdowns.
 
It's a known fact that alcohol kills the virus. I don't see the problem here. :D
 
In our state, Western Australia, the borders to the rest of the country and world have been closed for months. As a result there are no new cases here. The state government are looking at re opening everything soon, gigs are partly open right now with restricted numbers, however it’s taking a while to get going.

The state government was under pressure to open the borders but keeping the border closed was proved right as there is now a sudden spike in Victoria.

Here we have the perfect situation for keeping people out, there are only 2 roads connecting us to the east coast and we have closed the airport and passenger ships.

Alan
Fremantle Western Australia
 
Corona Pandemic shut down the whole word activities. Even the whole planet taking rest and refreshing by making the people stay in their homes. All business sectors are reduced their productivity. And Protective PPE Gowns, sanitizers, Face Masks and other PPE elements are selling in Peak. Really don't know where this world heading now !!We just be patient and witness the changes.
 
witzendoz said:
In our state, Western Australia, the borders to the rest of the country and world have been closed for months. As a result there are no new cases here. The state government are looking at re opening everything soon, gigs are partly open right now with restricted numbers, however it’s taking a while to get going.

The state government was under pressure to open the borders but keeping the border closed was proved right as there is now a sudden spike in Victoria.

Here we have the perfect situation for keeping people out, there are only 2 roads connecting us to the east coast and we have closed the airport and passenger ships.

Alan
Fremantle Western Australia
Click to expand...

I looked at the live flights website this morning and Australia has more planes in the sky than anywhere else. So some airports are open.
 
We've slightly reopened and reps are flying in from other states. The quarantines of 14 days has been lifted per the Traveling Reps, so they come here from California or Florida etc...to Texas.

Restaurants and Bars and stores are all in some really weird, partial -open mode....so I think the economy is going to crash much worse as no business can operate at 25 % on a good year. Recession and the stock market is all a bunch of fake Highs and Lows and can drop in a day or break highs in a day, the Hospitals & Fatalities rates are being watched and its climbing in numbers but not as bad as the media is making it out, and as far as Fatalities its not changed. 80 and older seem to get the 90% of Fatalites and some new medicine is helping there (so Ive heard? but who can believe anything with all the contradicting data?)

Im wearing a mask whenever I leave the house or car. Im also making sure I have 3 months of stuff in the house like TP, Ramen and other basics...though I don't think there will be another Economy Shutdown because we'll go into the Dark Ages financially.

Schools and Colleges ramping up Online fast so that's a new world that will probably continue after Im dead and gone.

Online everything seems to be the big winner in all this. ....wish Id bought Amazon stock years ago.

I think the problem is China and their sloppy ways that have released virus's several times in the past decades and seem to be in denial or don't care. No one wants to argue with them it seems either, all a bunch of coward governments? I don't know. I did hear China is cracking down on the nasty caveman like filthy germ ridden wet markets....that's a start if you can trust them. Maybe this is all Germ Warfare? I don't know anymore.

welcome to 2020!
 
Orson said:
I looked at the live flights website this morning and Australia has more planes in the sky than anywhere else. So some airports are open.
Click to expand...

Our state has planes flying people in and out work who are on bi-weekly shifts sometimes up to 1200 miles away, its still within our state so no borders crossed. Remember Adelaide the closest city to us is a 2.5hr flight away.

People can cross our border and come in but are isolated for 2 weeks before they can go out.
Alan
 
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