Concert Industry Expected To Loose Upward to $9Billion in 2020

Pollstar’s most recent study forecasts the worst-case scenario of the impacts that Covid-19 could have on the live industry.

All concert and live events have been canceled or postpones to later dates. Of the initial $12.2 billion projected for 2020 in box office revenue, $8.9 billion is still up in the air and is expected to be lost if the virus persists and the industry remains dark. 2020 was suppose to be a great year for the business. In fact the top tours were up 11%. “Everybody’s books are terrible,” said Andy Gensler, Pollstart’s executive editor. “Everyone’s trying to hedge their bets.”

Although many events have been pushed back it is uncertain if they will be able to resume in the later months due to the haphazard federal response in the U.S.

It is clear that this is a rippling effect. If the fans don’t have money to spend, promoters and agencies dampen their spending on live events, and as a result can’t employ staff and so-forth.

The hope is that we can all resume to our normal lives by summer or fall and thereby decreasing everyones losses.

Photo by @lestynpark