Our [Head in the Clouds
Jakarta] festival was supposed
to be on March 7. A week prior,
we were all packed, getting
ready to get on a plane the next
day for Indonesia. At the time,
there were no known cases in
Indonesia, but we were scared.
We took a bunch of precaution-
ary measures; I really wanted
to make sure that people were
going to be as safe as possible.
But then that night we saw a
news article about the first case
of coronavirus in Indonesia and
we were like, “Nah, it’s over.”
The festival was already
built, all the people were on-
site making the stage, so cer-
tainly financially — because
we’re doing it in Indonesia,
there’s no insurance — we losta lot. That was hard. We’re a
small company, so something
like that happening to us is
quite drastic. You’re talking
millions of dollars. This is still
ongoing — we have another
date, but nobody knows what
the climate will be every single
day. I’m of the mind that,
unfortunately, this thing might
not happen.
But some of the things we’re
seeing as Asians, we’ve gotten
quite emotional and upset
about. Because, look, I grew up
here, I was born here, I’m Asian-
American. I’ve never felt this
way personally [before], and
it’s a shared feeling with all of
our employees and artists, too.
Not to get political, but it was
already bad [before PresidentTrump called it the “Chinese
virus”]. Going to Target, or get-
ting in an elevator, and feeling
like I don’t want to cough. I try
so hard to not make other peo-
ple uncomfortable. I was stand-
ing in line and this girl was so
annoyed that I was behind her. I
was just like, damn. It’s a crazy
feeling for us to experience this,
in 2020. Some gnarly things
have happened to our employ-
ees and artists in a restaurant,
in a parking lot — things that
can escalate real quick if cooler
heads don’t prevail. It enhances
the danger so much more when
you have the leader of the
country — regardless of the
origins of the virus — [saying
something that] puts people in
danger. It’s irresponsible. Andthat’s what we’re dealing with.
It has been a reminder, or a
reinforcement, of who we are
and what we represent gener-
ally to the world, but especially
within music. At the same time,
it’s confusing. We’re just kind
of moving through it. But if
anything, it’s an important time
to be safe and tolerant and
together. This is an unprec-
edented global pandemic, and
hopefully the world can be
more careful in a crisis and not
single out a whole continent
of people for this. Even though
this is horrific, I think that
Asian people in non-Asian
countries, there’s a cloud over
us right now. And hopefully we
can get through all that.
—AS TOLD TO D.R.issue refunds to your attendees, we
are holding your scheduled payouts
for all published and future events.”
That protected Eventbrite and
consumers, but it further squeezed
promoters. Since Live Nation and
AEG control their own ticketing,
they don’t have to worry about this.
Moving forward, Hartz continued,
payouts would be held until “five
days after your event ends.”
That puts indie promoters in a
tough position, says Matthew Smith,
GM of the UC Theater in Berkeley,
Calif. “We’re pushing back against
agents’ demands for all [of an art-
ist’s] money in advance and asking
them to let us pay them night of
show,” he says, “only to have the
ticketing company we’ve contracted
tell us we can’t have it until five days
after we need it.”Danny Hayes, CEO of concert
promoter Danny Wimmer Presents,
predicts that agencies’ heavy-handed
demands will boomerang in the long
term. Demanding 100% upfront
could put some indie promoters out
of business, leaving even more of the
industry to Live Nation and AEG.
That, in turn, could put more pres-
sure on agents.
“If there are only two major pro-
moters left,” says Hayes, “artists are
going to ask themselves why they’re
paying an agency commission.” Al-
ready, artists such as JAY-Z, U2 and
Madonna have avoided paying an
agent commission on eight and nine-
figure tours by signing direct deals
with Live Nation. Others, including
Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, George
Strait and Kenny Chesney, use agents
for aspects of their career that don’tinvolve touring and work closely
with AEG on global tour deals.
On March 12, about 75 indie pro-
moters held an emergency confer-
ence call to discuss a path forward
in the wake of the coronavirus.
Entertainment lawyer Tim Epstein
advised them to halt all capital
improvements, hold as much cash
as possible in reserve and maintain
their insurance policies, because, he
said, “even though they don’t contain
coverage for coronavirus, slips and
falls and workers comp accidents
typically go up during an economic
downturn, and you want to make
sure your business is covered.”
There wasn’t much more he
could say.F
OR NOW, AT LEAST,
every promoter in the
country is relying partly
on holding on to money
consumers have already
spent on tickets for
shows that still need
to be rescheduled — and prob-
ably won’t take place for months.
Depending on how long the concert
business stays dark (and how bad the
economy gets), at least some ticket-
holders are likely to ask for it back.
Under the terms of sale for tickets,
promoters have the right to post-
pone shows without issuing refunds.
“But we’ve never had a situationwhere every show in the country, for
months on end, gets postponed at the
same time, indefinitely,” says veteran
promoter James “Disco” Donnie
Estopinal. “How are you not going to
give someone a refund when they’ve
lost their job and haven’t been paid
in months?”
How the promoters and ticketing
companies eventually deal with that,
as well as the innumerable hassles
caused by rescheduled shows and
festivals with new lineups, will
determine what consumers think
about them — and the live-music
business as a whole. Once restric-
tions on public gatherings ease up,
will the concert industry be seen
as essential, an important part of
both life and commerce, much as
airlines are? Or, by failing to meet
consumer expectations, will it come
to seem like just the high-end part of
nightlife?
“Music is so vital to everybody,
and there’s a lot of people who make
their living on the road and bring
joy to so many people,” says Another
Planet Entertainment’s Perloff. At
the same time, “it’s also a business
that works on a very low margin,
very much like a grocery store.” The
live-music business will inevitably
come back from the current shut-
down, but it could look very differ-
ent, with a few big companies even
more dominant and their smaller
rivals more uncertain than ever.Demanding 100% upfront could put
some indie promoters out of business,
leaving even more of the industry
to Live Nation and AEG. That, in turn,
could put more pressure on agents.
THE CEO
Sean Miyashiro
of the Asian music
collective 88Rising
can handle a canceled
festival. Racism was
another story.MARCH 28, 2020 • WWW.BILLBOARD.COM 417fea_coverstory_coronavirus_lo [P]_27818876.indd 41 3/25/20 12:46 AM