According to a new report from Pollstar (the trade publication for the concert industry), the global concert industry has lost over 30 billion dollars in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The figure includes a $9.7 billion loss at the box office. The projected $30+ billion figure also includes unreported events, ancillary revenues, including sponsorships, ticketing, concessions, merch, transportation, restaurants, hotels, and other economic activity related to the live gigs.
Ray Waddell, the president of Oak View Group’s Media & Conferences Division, commented: “It’s been an extraordinarily difficult year for the events industry, which has been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus. As painful as it is to chronicle the adversity and loss our industry and many of our colleagues faced, we understand it is a critical undertaking towards facilitating our recovery, which is thankfully on the horizon. With vaccines, better testing, new safety, and sanitization protocols, smart ticketing, and other innovations, the live industry will be ramping up in the coming months, and we’re sure that at this time next year we’ll have a very different story to tell”.
