Singapore Raffles Music College.

The Future for the Music Scene around the world: Socially-distanced Concerts and more!

Singapore Raffles Music College.
21 Feb 2021

Written by: SRMC

Ah, 2020… Oh, the times are changing.

The Covid-19 outbreaks have created an extremely tough environment for concerts and festivals around the world, unlike we’ve ever seen before. It started with a slew of concert cancellations and postponements coming one after another in the first few months of the year. Little did we know that we would find ourselves in such a long and excruciating musical dry spell for the rest of the year.

According to music industry magazine, IQ, concert revenues have dropped worldwide by 64 percent in 2020. Other than the few countries that have been largely unaffected by Covid-19, such as New Zealand, China and Taiwan, large-scale live concerts have taken quite a nosedive in the rest of the world.

So what will the future look like for the music scene around the world? Will the music industry be able to bounce back?

International music scene in 2021: Asia

(photo creds: AFP photo)

Thailand had the rest of Asia’s music fans drooling when Bangkok hosted The Amazing Tuk Tuk Festival, the city’s first-ever large-scale festival since the lockdown was lifted. The iconic tuk tuks were socially-distanced on the festival ground to ensure the health and safety of attendees, in place of moshpits.

In Japan, where many large-scale international music festivals have been cancelled this year (including the famous Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic festivals), music fans can expect a brighter and music-filled second part of 2021.

International music scene in 2021: Australia

(photo creds: musicfeeds.au)

Concerts are finally making a comeback in Australia! The country’s first large-scale shows since March will sit up to 6,000 people.

While it’s sad that one of the biggest music festivals in Australia, St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, which usually takes place from January to February annually, has announced the cancellation of their 2021 edition, music fans can look forward to more festivals later that year from April 2021 onwards.

International music scene in 2021: UK

(photo cred: Owen Humphreys / AP)

Spearheading the trend of socially-distanced large-scale concerts, the UK has certainly come a long way since the Covid-19 outbreak. With many large-scale concerts planned in line from January 2021 onwards, it’s going to be a pretty exciting year for music fans in the country.

International music scene in 2021: USA

(photo creds: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Coachella)

Finally, we take a look at the music scene in the United States, where there are more than 200,000 new Covid-19 cases reported each day.

The country’s live-music business is facing billions of dollars in lost income as its two largest promoters, Live Nation and AEG, suspended all tour engagements in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, it looks like the USA’s music scene is ready to bounce back, armed with large-scale concerts lined up from January 2021 onwards.

International music scene in 2021: Are Virtual Concerts here to stay?

(photo cred: Tiktok)

In light of the Covid-19 situation, virtual concerts have been embraced by the international music scene around the world. In August 2020, The Weeknd held a livestream that pulled in more than 2 million total unique viewers, with 275,000 concurrent viewers at its peak.

While virtual concerts are becoming a norm during this pandemic, are they here to stay when all this is over?

Virtual concerts provide an outlet for artists to engage and connect with fans in a whole new way. With virtual concerts becoming increasingly creative and large-scale, we reckon that we’d see a lot more of them in the future too.

Nevertheless, no matter how high-tech, virtual concerts will never be able to fill the shoes of a good old physical live show.

For all music fans out there who are dying to catch a live show, we totally get you. Mask up, stay safe, and we’ll see you in your groove at a live show soon!

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