22 May How Coronavirus is impacting the club and music industry
Coronavirus has affected almost every aspect of our lives we can no longer go out and sit in cafes, we can’t go to visit friends and families in their homes and just generally can no longer live our normal lives. We have no idea how long the coronavirus is going to be affecting us, but for sure we know that many of the things that we used to enjoy are now going to be very different.
One industry, in particular, that is going to continue to be affected for a very long time is the music industry, in particular genres of music centered around going to clubs or music events. The reason the music and club industry is taking one of the biggest hits is that we’re no longer going to be able to congregate in large groups and many of these events will no longer go on or clubs are shut for the foreseeable future so where does that leave these artists and clubs?
Speaking to a Drum and Bass DJ and producer, Magnus Mcfarlane, He gave his opinion on what he thinks the future of the music and club scene looks like for him and fellow DJs, producers, club owners, and event-goers.
Magnus said that he felt that in the wake of the coronavirus, most of the DJ’s and producers around him had become far more creative and noted that a lot of the DJ’s had now begun learning how to produce. During the time that he had been in isolation, he had created a whole album. ‘I’ve had nothing to do so working on an album has been a massive escape for me and I know a lot of other producers have found making music to be a perfect outlet”
Above is a song that Magnus has produced while being in isolation.
Speaking about how the coronavirus has directly affected him and his work Magnus mentioned that he had had various gigs cancelled as a result of clubs closing. “yeah it’s a shame I was meant to be doing two different gigs this month, one in Blue Mountain and one in Lakota, but Bristol council has slyly shut Lakota down permanently now while they could get away with it”. Lakota is a famous club in Bristol that has been threatened with closure for years and Bristol council have seized this opportunity to finally close it.
Looking to the future of the clubbing and Drum n Bass scene it looks like although Music will still continuously be being produced by these artists, it may be a very long time before we get to see any of their work live.
When speaking about what he thought the future looks like for him and the music scene, Magnus stated that he expected a lot of the clubs and festivals would go out of business as he already knew some major festivals were in trouble because they had lost money spent on paying acts and as a result of having to refund festival-goers. “It’s complicated because technically the artists didn’t perform but 90% of the time they are paid before the events so they can’t ask the artists to give them. the money back”.
Festivals and clubs look to be closed for the foreseeable future, but it’s clear that when they finally do make a comeback the music industry will be ready.
Some of the highlights from my interview can be found below.
