
The coronavirus was first identified in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. Being highly contagious, it gradually spread all over the world. The world is witnessing the biggest epidemic since World War II. So far, 207 million people worldwide have been infected with the virus and 4.37 million people have died. As a result, it has naturally affected people’s personal life, economic, social, administrative, education, culture in all fields. The music industry was not left out either. It can be said that their loss is greater than many, as public gatherings are closed throughout the entire period of the epidemic. Concerts have been closed for a long time, recording studios have been closed. Many people involved in the industry have already lost their jobs. Those who can’t find any other way to earn. There is no active federation in this industry who will show a way out of these situations, albeit to some extent.
According to the World Economic Forum, the coronavirus epidemic has cost the music industry loss 10 billion or more every six months, which is still ongoing. The main sources of income for musicians are the rights to live performances or concerts, recordings, streaming, digital downloads, physical discs and the music used for various TV programs. In fact, all of them are closed during this entire epidemic.
The physical cell, which represents a quarter of the industry’s revenue, has shrunk by about 1/3. Digital sales have fallen by about 11 percent due to the closure of related businesses.
But a unique feature of every human being is to try to adapt to the situation. Those involved in the music industry are also trying that. Many artists / bands are changing their traditional perfume-style to focus on online perfumes and sales. They are doing shows at home, coming in front of the audience, participating in various live programs thanks to social media.
However, the revolution has taken place in online based music streaming subscriptions. Since people can’t go out of the house, most listeners tend to sit at home and listen to music on online platforms.
By mid-2020, online subscription revenue grew by 70 percent. The online media user audience grew to 42.7 million, a whopping 50.4 percent year-over-year! (Reference: WEF)
The idea is that the music industry will recover once the Corona virus epidemic is over, but the changes that music lovers have witnessed in the last two years may remain. And online-based platforms may emerge as the main platform for music professionals. Of course, time will tell.