Billboard - 28.03.2020

du Soleil and Feld Entertain-

ment, which produces the Juras-

sic World Live tour and Marvel

Universe Live!, pink-slipped over

6,000 employees between them,

representing 90% of their collec-

tive workforce. On March 20, talent

agency Paradigm furloughed over

200 employees. Right now, at least,

there aren’t any jobs in the concert

business that need filling. “There

is no opportunity for work,” says

Gregg Perloff, CEO of Berkeley,

Calif.-based indie promoter Anoth-

er Planet Entertainment, “so people

who lost their jobs aren’t going to

be able to find work elsewhere.”

With virtually all live events

canceled or postponed through at

least July, the industry as a whole —

which, before the pandemic, had em-

ployed 50,000 salaried and contract

employees and 200,000 part-time

and seasonal workers — could be on

track to lose $10 billion to $12 billion.

Live Nation and AEG, which

together control about three-quar-

ters of the concert business based

on ticket revenue, have both the

resources to weather the economic

fallout and the kind of scale that will

allow them to mitigate it. They have

the bargaining clout to get the best

deals possible, to the point where

they can get very different terms

from agencies, and the acts they

represent, than their indie-promoter

competitors.

Right now, when so much revenue

is tied up, the most important terms

involve the guarantees that promot-

ers give acts — especially how much

is due when the performance is

scheduled compared with when it

takes place. Already, Live Nation and

AEG pay less upfront, partly because

agencies know they’re well capital-

ized. Smaller promoters pay more,

which means more of their capital is

already tied up in concerts that have

been postponed. It’s hard for them to

borrow money right now, so agencies

are asking for more upfront than

usual, for fear of cancellation.

It’s a vicious cycle: the more

money they need for advances, the

less financial stability they have; the

less financial stability they have, the

more money they need for advances.

And it’s creating a liquidity crisis

that couldn’t have come at a worse

time. Promoters that have gone

without revenue for several months

need to book as many shows as pos-

sible, even as agencies are asking for

the kind of advance payments that

makes that impossible.

“Most indie promoters operate

brick-and-mortar venues and hav-

ing to totally shut down will have

a devastating effect on their staff

and partners,” says Rev. Moose, the

co-founder and managing partner

of media and marketing firm Ma-

rauder, which organizes Indepen-

dent Venue Week. Worse, he adds,

those who are betting that future

shows will enable them to rebound

“are facing impossible demands

from agents.” Stephen Chilton, the

owner of Psyko Steve Presents in

Arizona, says his earning potential

from future shows has been pushed

out months without any new

money coming in.

Live Nation and AEG have differ-

ent size venues all over the world,

“but independent operators have

to fill their venues five to six nights

a week,” says Steve Sternschein,

managing partner of Austin-based

indie promoter Heard Presents,

who’s faced with laying off employ-

ees after the cancellation of SXSW

wiped out a slate of over two dozen

shows at the two Austin clubs he

owns, Empire Control Room & Ga-

rage and The Parish. With so much

money locked up, some in deposits

and some with ticketing companies,

“the cash you had available to book

20 nights per month can now only

cover deposits for five shows.”

When the concert industry does

open for business again, Live Nation

and AEG will have the smoothest

path forward. But that could disrupt

the rest of the business. In the long

run, fewer indie promoters would

PREVIOUS SPREAD Globe Theatre, Hollywood

Pantages Theatre, Teragram Ballroom, Fonda

Theatre, The Regent, Theatre at Ace Hotel, Greek

Theatre, Orpheum Theatre and El Rey Theatre

photographed by Brian Guido on March 17 in

Los Angeles. The Wiltern photographed by

Lindsey Byrnes on March 16 in Los Angeles. Radio

City Music Hall and Beacon Theater photographed

by Matt Salacuse on March 17 in New York.

Exit/In and Robert’s Western World photographed

by Kyle Dean Reinford on March 17 in Nashville.

PORTRAIT ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOEL KIMMEL

Brooklyn-based SKH

Media co-owner Keith

Hagan had to shift entire

tours in an attempt to

dodge the outbreak.

Management is like every other

point on the music business

food chain: a disaster. I’ve been

spending most of my days

moving tours to the fall. If this

business gets up off the mat in

the summer, it’s going to be fa-

tiguing getting back into things.

People are going to be financial-

ly hurting. Running out to buy

concert tickets or a T-shirt isn’t

going to be first on the list.

The tipping point for me was

when I saw Italy get locked

down. When I saw that, I was

like, “We need to take evasive

action.” And now everybody’s

trying to move their stuff. You

have what would have been 12

months of the concert busi-

ness trying to cram itself into

a three- or six-month window

— it’s a mess. I don’t know

anybody who’s not [taking a hit

financially]. All of our artists are

touring artists. There’s plenty

of tour managers or techs or

merch sellers I talk to, and their

entire livelihood is being on a

tour bus. I’m an asthmatic, so

I’m being overly cautious. Luck-

ily, [managers] can do our jobs

from our house, our office or a

hut in Guam.

We’re all in the same boat,

horrified by what’s happening.

We’ve never seen anything like

this in our lifetime. You try to

make the best out of a bad situ-

ation. I mean, I have a job still.

Income is drastically affected by

it, but you have to kind of press

on to do right by your artists

and to plan ahead for eventually

when there’s a break from this

— and relief.

—AS TOLD TO DAN RYS

Over the next two weeks,

we have 13 or 14 shows we

have to reschedule [for the

500-capacity Lodge Room

in Los Angeles]. We’ve

been able to reschedule

about half of them. It’s

a work in progress. In a

perfect world, we would

reschedule for the moment

that we’re allowed to do

shows, but these bands are

playing all over the country

and the world.

When people look at it

from afar, they see, “Oh,

Coachella canceled,” or

“Ultra canceled.” But they

forget about how it affects

the independent venue

and tour managers and

bartenders and security

guards. It is this whole net-

work that is being propped

up by the assumption that

artists and venues are go-

ing to be able to operate.

This is people’s fucking

livelihood at stake.

When you hear that

South by Southwest has to

cut a third of their staff or

Big Ears is canceling and

they don’t know if they can

come back, those are major

institutions. So obviously

this is going to have a pretty

profound impact on the

littler guys. I hope every-

one has some sort of piggy

bank or rainy day fund they

can tap into. Not having 15

shows that you depend on

is unimaginable.

As venues, a lot of the

time we are battling each

other for the same shows

and from what I have seen

a lot of in the past week

from fellow bookers or

agents, it feels like we’re

all on the same team. It’s

actually really cool to see

this community come to-

gether and try our best to

weather this storm and be

positive and just be there

for each other. It has been

kind of heartwarming.

—AS TOLD TO TAYLOR MIMS

THE MANAGER

THE TALENT BUYER

For independent venue

employees like the

Lodge Room’s Raghav

Desai, an unimaginable

situation could have

a silver lining.

MARCH 28, 2020 • WWW.BILLBOARD.COM 39

7fea_coverstory_coronavirus_lo [P]_27818876.indd 39 3/25/20 12:14 PM