Concert Industry Faces Cruel, Cruel Summer
As the live business reels, competitors are coming together in an effort to try to make sure their shows will go on
BY DAVE BROOKS
PG. 15 VISA APPLICATION BLUES PG. 16 PROTESTS ROCK CHILE PG. 20 HASBRO’S MUSIC PLANS
F
OR WEEKS, AS THE
threat of the coronavirus
loomed in China, then in
Europe, the concert
business seemed to hold its breath
— waiting to see if, and how much, the
United States would be affected. That
changed on March 6, when South by
Southwest (SXSW) announced it
would cancel its annual event in
Austin, which was scheduled to take
place March 13-22. On March 9, after
the weekend, the dam broke: Pearl Jam
and Zac Brown Band announced that
they were postponing their tours, and
Billboard reported that Coachella
would be rescheduled for October.
By then, the stock market had
already fallen 7.8% and Live Nation’s
shares were down by one-third. By
March 11, the market was officially in
bear territory, while Live Nation stock
had declined 16.6%.
Ten of the most powerful figures in
the live business were already work-
ing together in order to mitigate the
damage, speak to fans with a uni-
fied voice and prepare for a smooth
recovery. The informal group, which
its members refer to as a “task force,”
consists of the heads of the two major
promoters (Live Nation and AEG),
the four largest agencies (Paradigm,
WME, Creative Artists Agency [CAA]
and UTA) and venue development
company Oak View Group, as well as
supermanager Irving Azoff.
The week of March 2, several of the
executives started sharing updates on
the spread of the coronavirus on a daily
conference call. By the time SXSW was
canceled, they had begun preparing
for the worst. One talent agency chief
executive jokingly wondered whether
the informal organization was a
coalition “or a mutual suicide pact.”
Cooperation among the leading
promoters and agencies could be
critical to help create a framework
to compensate acts, agencies and
promoters facing what is predicted
to be an unprecedented wave of
concert cancellations — especially if
it continues long enough to threaten
the summer season that
represents the lion’s share
of industry revenue. It
could also make it easier
to postpone, rather
than cancel, some of the
marquee festivals that the
live business has come to
depend on. Goldenvoice, a
promotion company owned by AEG, is
moving Coachella to October, an effort
that will require dozens of artists to
change their touring schedules.
So far, much of the talk about
cancellations has involved festivals —
SXSW, Coachella and Miami’s Ultra
Music, which organizers called off
on March 4. But as the coronavirus
spreads to more cities, concerns are
growing about concerts in arenas and
even theaters. Right now, only Pearl
Jam and Zac Brown
Band have postponed
their dates, but more
acts are likely to follow
now that San Francisco
is restricting large public
gatherings, with other
cities expected to follow.
The situation is already
Market
$6.7B
MARKET CAP LOST
BY LIVE NATION
SINCE FEB. 24,
DOWN FROM
$15.59B TO $8.83B
UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING GROUP CEO JODY GERSON WILL RECEIVE THE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME’S ABE OLMAN AWARD. MIGOS’ OFFSET SIGNED WITH UTA WORLDWIDE IN ALL AREAS.
ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN INZANA MARCH 14, 2020 • WWW.BILLBOARD.COM 1 3