Leadership / 12.16.20

2020 — A Year Forever Qualified

Access Staff

Pollstar (12/11/20) Gensler, Andy

This past year will forever be remembered as the most challenging and volatile year endured by the live industry, marked by cancellations and postponements of blockbuster tours and residencies, new performers whose world-class debuts were curtailed, and business that ground to a halt. Phenomenal sales and bookings in the first quarter of 2020 led to optimism that this would be the industry's highest-grossing year on record, only to see it crumble as the global coronavirus pandemic came into full force. "Without a doubt this worldwide pandemic has been like a meteorite strike for the entire live entertainment industry," said Peter Schwenkow of DEAG Detsche Entertainment. "This crisis has had an impact on every single player in the industry which makes this situation incomparable to previous crises." The crisis nevertheless spurred a boom of innovation and new approaches to public performance, including livestreaming and virtual experiences. Arrival Artists founder Ali Hedrick said the deconsolidation of major artist agencies also has been a positive effect of the pandemic. Yet the loss of revenue has been nothing short of catastrophic, with Pollstar estimating more than $30 billion lost altogether. Live Nation Urban's Shawn Gee says the industry's resurgence "will be driven by science and governance, and we will follow all rules and protocols until that time presents itself."

Read the full story from Pollstar. 

Tags: News , COVID-19 , Coronavirus