With the Corona Virus shutting down concerts for who knows how long, artists who were scheduled to release albums at this time are beginning to wonder what they should do now that they won’t be able to promote or preform their music in person for at least a year. Many artists rely on touring and merchandise sales as their main source of income compared to just releasing music, due to 99% of music sales being done online or through streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Tidal, etc. Because of this, many artists are postponing the release of their albums because they won’t be able to tour anytime soon.
in Lower Greenville, Dallas
This one of my favorite concert venues, and because they are independently owned, it is likely they are struggling with no concerts coming through.
Lyndsey Havens of Billboard.com writes in her article ‘Why Holding an Album Until Touring Resumes May Be A ‘Bad Move'”, that doing so may result in a complete crash of the touring industry. Multiple artists are withholding their projects until they know they can tour again, however when concerts are finally able to resume, every artist that postponed their music and/or tour will reschedule their shows for that time and their will be immense competition and an over-saturation of the live music and entertainment market.
Havens addresses that for fans, it isn’t always about the tour, especially during this time. Fans want to be engaged with and hear new music. While everyone is stuck at home, people need new music more than ever, and now that artists are hoarding their work, people are losing interest in their favorite artists. According to Rolling Stone magazine, some of the big name artists that have decided to postponed their new albums include Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Haim, Toni Braxton, Willie Nelson, Sam Smith, and The 1975. Although these artists will be successful no matter when they release their new music, as they already have established careers and a large, secure fan base, I feel that those who release music now, in the midst of self-quarantine, will be at an advantage once touring season rolls around again.
To explain, by releasing music now, people have nothing else to do but listen to it and share it to others. This will help boost sales and the popularity of the artist because they are maintaining interaction with their fans while giving them music to enjoy and learn the lyrics to while they are at home. Once they are able to tour again, these artists will already have secured ticket buyers, as their fans listened to their music while being bored at home, and there will be less competition later on when all the artists saving their albums release them at the same time. Some artists that decided to release music now during the quarantine include Grouplove, Niall Horan, The Weeknd, and Dua Lipa.
Check out the articles I used in my post here!
Billboard: https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/9371591/new-music-fan-engagement-touring-resumes
Rolling Stone: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/album-delays-caused-by-covid-19-973870/
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