The Coronavirus pandemic has impacted every aspect of the worldwide economy with shops shut, businesses closed and many employees either furloughed or out of work. One of the hardest hit industries is the entertainment industry- theatres, live venues and creative production have all ground to a halt whilst we remain in lockdown.
Many independent music venues have been participating in the Save Our Venues (SOV) campaign, coordinated by the Music Venue Trust, which is doing an admirable job of keeping the plight of UK venues in the public eye. The campaign shines a spotlight on the financial precarity of many live music venues that now face an uncertain future due to live entertainment events having been completely cancelled during the Covid-19 public health crisis.
The Music Venue Trust estimates that approx. 400 venues in the UK are at imminent risk of closure. Whilst there has been a limited amount of financial assistance from the government, those in the industry say that it falls way short of what is needed to ensure survival of some of our best loved live music venues.
A survey of over 28,000 members of the gig-going public conducted by the Music Venue Trust has found that whilst 89% of people said they were keen to go to live music events again, only 36% felt confident in doing so any time soon. This may be worrying news for the industry who will be keen to assuage the public’s anxieties and get them (safely) back to their place in the audience.
Visit the Music Venue’s SOV websit and social media pages for more details.
I’m Molly Tie- I Love punk! I play drums (badly), write a lot about punk (not as badly) and I’m particularly interested in issues relating to women in the music scene.
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