Executive Director, IEBA
In terms of scale and impact, how would you describe 2020 and the current crisis’ challenges and impact on your business?
Money lost in 2020 is gone forever. This may be true of our peers and colleagues who have been furloughed or laid off. Many will NOT return to the industry when the industry returns. Some businesses will fail. Artist development will suffer.
What strategies have you and your businesses implemented and/or are you considering implementing to address these challenges?
The financial impact of shutting down concert touring & live performance is so pervasive that only government assistance can sustain some businesses. But, with many state and city small business relief programs capping grants at $10,000 or $30,000, it is a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. Many businesses were forced to dip into their reserves when government assistance failed to cover even one month’s expenses.
By: Andy Gensler
2020 will forever have a huge, indelible asterisk beside it. It will serve as a stark reminder that the most challenging year our industry has ever endured was an anomaly, an aberration, a pox on our businesses, one that deviated widely from all norms and can’t end fast enough.
Congratulations to Sir Elton John, whose phenomenal “Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour” crowned
Pollstar’s Year-End Top 100 Worldwide Tours with $87.1 million grossed from Nov. 30 to March 7. His multi-year trek, which was No. 2 on 2019’s tally with a $212 million gross, is shaping up into something special and will further burnish Sir Elton’s incredible legacy as it continues into 2023. And kudos, too, to the rest of the chart’s Top 10, rounded out by Celine Dion, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, U2, Queen + Adam Lambert, Post Malone, Eagles, Jonas Brothers, Dead & Company and Andrea Bocelli – but for one thing: 2020 .