New study measures the economic impact of coronavirus on music festival season

July 16, 2020

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Photo Credit: Viberate

Nowadays, the music industry has entered quite a volatile place. With all of the light of several recent sexual assault allegations made against several artists, many fans of the electronic scene have had to come to terms with some bitter realities. Unfortunately, there is another elephant in the room. The entire world is still acclimating to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Among several major businesses facing economic setbacks, the music industry can not get a break with festival season looming in the distance. A shocking analytical report from Viberate perfectly illustrates just how major these blows are to the entirety of festival season.

Overall, more than 750 festivals worldwide have been affected. Most of Viberate’s data regards United States cancellations, however, festivals around the world have all equally felt the effects of COVID-19. Alongside 90 festivals being cancelled in the US, there’s also been 84 in Germany, 86 in the UK, 80 in France, and 121 cancelled or postponed festivals in the Netherlands.

The report’s findings also show that the peak of cancellations started in March with 127 festivals cancelled or postponed. Several organizers waited until officially responding to the pandemic with 230 more festivals cancelled or postponed in April and another 193 in May.

The estimated direct economic impact is a mind-boggling $16.8 billion, with $5.1 billion in estimated ticket loss. The greatest chunk, $12.4 billion of the estimated loss, came from the mega festivals, those with 80k+ visitors. The remaining $4.4 billion stems from events with less expected attendance.

Now for the real slug among all of Viberate’s analytical findings. It is estimated that 13.2 million fans are going to be unable to attend any festivals this season. On the bright side of things, fans can expect several virtual festivals this season. The actual scale of the economic impacts on festival season is ever-growing. The actual report was made on April 21, but the data was only recently dispersed among the public.

Via: Viberate | H/T: YourEDM