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Fans crowd-surf at SXSW 2016

Fans crowd-surf at SXSW 2016

Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images

News
Music Industry Grapples With Coronavirus Outbreak going-viral-music-industry-grapples-worldwide-coronavirus-outbreak

Going Viral: The Music Industry Grapples With The Worldwide Coronavirus Outbreak

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With the unprecedented cancellations of SXSW and Ultra Music Festival this week, the music industry faces ongoing questions, fears and concerns surrounding the global spread of the novel coronavirus
John Ochoa
GRAMMYs
Mar 8, 2020 - 6:52 pm

Like the spread of the virus itself, the growing fear surrounding the coronavirus outbreak has quickly escalated on a global scale over the past three months. Its impact on international industries and business is far and wide: Airlines, pharmaceutical conglomerates, big tech companies, gaming businesses and tourism industries are currently experiencing or bracing for the economical effects resulting from the novel coronavirus. It was only a matter of time until the furor reached the music industry. 

This week, the coronavirus sparked several major blows to the international live music industry. On the same day, Friday, March 6, both Ultra Music Festival (UMF), the Miami-based EDM mega-festival, and SXSW, the annual multi-day music, film, interactive media and tech festival and conference in Austin, Texas, canceled their 2020 editions due to concerns over the coronavirus. (Miami's Calle Ocho Festival, a one-day street festival and cultural event part of Carnaval Miami, was also canceled as part of the UMF announcement.)

In the same week that UMF and SXSW were canceled, Tomorrowland Winter in France, an offshoot event of Belgium's globally attended annual Tomorrowland EDM festival, and Ultra Abu Dhabi, UMF's event in the Middle East, were both called off. 

The UMF and SXSW developments come on the heels of bubbling fears and recent cancellations and postponements of international music tours and prominent cultural events around the world since this January due to the coronavirus, including cancellations from major artists like BTS, Mariah Carey, Green Day, Stormzy, Khalid, The National and many others. 

The news marks the first-ever cancellations for both SXSW and UMF, which were each scheduled to take place this month. It's an unprecedented development triggered by an equally unheard-of event with potentially unknown ramifications on an industry-wide level. 

The SXSW cancellation alone has already impacted Austin's local food, live music and hotel industries, with its ripple effect causing similar consequences on the city's businesses, communities and grassroots music scene. While local businesses and governments and city leaders are banding together to help alleviate the aftermath, launching funds, initiatives and fundraisers, the music industry is now scrambling for real-time responses and preemptive solutions as it heads into the 2020 festival season. 

Currently, there is lots of talk in the music industry surrounding event cancellation insurance as the coronavirus outbreak continues to impact large-scale events around the world. Generally speaking, infectious diseases are not covered in cancellation insurance policies, but rather come at an extra added premium. Still, many such insurance polices may exempt the novel coronavirus, according to Billboard. For example, while SXSW had insurance policies covering several types of events and scenarios, the festival did not have "cancellation insurance relating to a disease outbreak or triggered by the city declaring a 'local state of disaster,'" according to a report from The Austin Chronicle.

Consequently, many are putting the onus of event safety during the coronavirus era in the hands of event promoters and festival producers. "Concert promoters might need to come up with some kind of new model for this period," Carnegie Mellon University professor George Loewenstein told Billboard. "It feels to me like we're at the beginning." University of Massachusetts-Lowell bioethicist Nicholas Evans adds, "If there's a Los Angeles Times story that says 'Coachella becomes a hotbed for coronavirus,' I don't think it's going to be the company that serves drinks at the bar that's going to be taking the hit for that one. It's going to be the festival organizer." 

The effects of the coronavirus on the music industry go beyond the live music sphere, with many music and entertainment companies taking stock market hits as early as February. Warner Music Group, which last month (Feb. 6) announced it was going public, delayed its initial public offering (IPO) "due to market turbulence caused by fears surrounding the spread of the coronavirus," according to Music Business Worldwide. Frankfurt Musikmesse, a major gear show and trade fair in Europe, postponed its 2020 edition, originally scheduled for April, due to coronavirus.

In the fallout of the SXSW and UMF cancellations, novel practices are starting to emerge across the live music and event industries. Many tech conferences and industry trade shows are taking their events and exhibitions virtual and online-only. In the music space, large-scale events are implementing advanced medical technologies and additional health measures such as “fever screening," a process by which festival and event attendees are screened for "exposure risks" via thermal-imaging cameras, as reported by Rolling Stone.

Read: Coachella Co-Founder Paul Tollett Talks Kanye, Safety, Legacy & More

Still, with the 2020 festival season on the horizon, questions, fears and concerns surrounding the global coronavirus outbreak continue to loom in the music industry. Days after the SXSW news, forecasts of future festival cancellations remain a hot topic. "I wouldn’t doubt over the next 20 days if we see a festival a day canceled,” Vans Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman told Billboard in an interview prior to the SXSW and UMF cancellations. 

At the time of this writing, both Coachella and Stagecoach, the flagship festivals from music events and festival producer Goldenvoice, have not been canceled. Meanwhile, Riverside County, where both fêtes take place, today (March 8) declared a public health emergency after it confirmed its first coronavirus case.

As the coronavirus continues to spread, many are left wondering if those festivals, along with several major events around the world, will see their fates cut short during this festival season.

For more information and developments related to the coronavirus, visit the World Health Organization for ongoing news and updates.

Crowd shot at SXSW 2019

Crowd shot at SXSW 2019

Photo: Hutton Supancic/Getty Images for SXSW

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How Coronavirus Is Impacting The Music Community how-global-coronavirus-pandemic-directly-impacting-songwriters-musicians-and-artists

How The Global Coronavirus Pandemic Is Directly Impacting Songwriters, Musicians And Artists

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With the worldwide concert industry now in flux, the coronavirus disruption has created a volatile environment for artists, musicians, songwriters and producers on every level
John Ochoa
Advocacy
Mar 13, 2020 - 3:35 pm

By now, the detrimental effects of the global coronavirus pandemic on the music industry are loudly heard. Major festivals around the world are postponing or outright cancelling their 2020 editions. This month alone, Coachella and Stagecoach, Ultra Music Festival, SXSW, Lollapalooza Argentina, Treefort Music Fest, Brussels' Listen! Festival and several other major events were called off or postponed due to the coronavirus. The aftermath has impacted everything from music conferences and award shows—this year's Winter Music Conference, ASCAP Experience, Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and BMI Latin Awards were all cancelled or postponed—while the amount of cancelled national and international tours continues to grow seemingly on the daily.

As the coronavirus itself continues to spread, so too does its ramifications on the music industry. While industry experts and analysts are projecting that the live concert business could stand to lose billions, the financial fallout is virtually immeasurable at this point.  

But music's financial collapse is already taking its industry-wide toll. 

"You have people delaying on-sales for tours, and you have people who are going to postpone tours. It's chaotic and stressful, from agents and managers to artists, their families and their support teams," Allen Kovac, an artist manager who represents Mötley Crüe and other acts, told The New York Times.

The downfall of the live music space comes in the streaming era when the majority of professional recording artists and performing musicians rely heavily on touring and live performances as their main source of income. A 2018 survey by the Music Industry Research Association and the Princeton University Survey Research Center, in partnership with the Recording Academy's MusiCares, found that live performances were the "most common income source for musicians," according to Rolling Stone. (Pitchfork's in-depth feature on the booming music streaming market visualizes these financial percentages in a helpful graph.) 

Crowd shot at SXSW 2018

Still, even as the streaming industry continues to grow, with streaming accounting for 80 percent of the music industry’s overall revenue, the low royalty rates make it difficult for small and independent artists to even earn a minimum wage through streaming. And artists continue to make nothing from traditional AM/FM radio platforms (a major reason why Congress needs to pass the AM-FM Act). 

This all makes the live music industry all that more important for artists and musicians, especially for those considered to be non-superstar acts who rely on paychecks from touring and live gigs just to make a living. A coronavirus-sized pandemic that causes festival cancelations and cuts touring schedules short will undoubtedly impact the bottom line of artists and creators of every size on a global scale. Simply put: No shows = no paycheck. 

The coronavirus cancellations will also trickle down to songwriters, who depend on performance royalties from the live performances of their songs. A decrease in shows unquestionably equates to a decrease in potential gains via live performance royalties.

Then, of course, there's the legion of audio engineers, sound and light crews, backstage teams, tour managers and other behind-the-scenes hands who have doubtlessly lost work due to canceled tours, conferences and festivals. As DJ TechTools, a DJ- and gear-centric outlet, points out, audiovisual technicians are reporting a massive wave of job cancellations as more and more music conferences are cancelled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. 

With the global concert industry now in flux, the disruption has created a volatile environment for artists, independent musicians, songwriters, producers and the like on every level. As tours and festivals continue to cancel, these same industries are, too, impacted, leaving session players, live musicians and all sorts of creative workers to face potentially empty touring and recording schedules for months on end. Worst of all, there is no end in sight just yet. 

Still, as the coronavirus story develops and the world continues to adapt, so will our beloved music industry. The artist and musician community can tap into the national and local resources available to alleviate any financial, mental and social distress caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

If you are an artist or music professional who has been impacted by this unprecedented circumstance and are in need of assistance, please visit our MusiCares page to learn more about the financial, medical and personal emergencies services and resources offered by the Recording Academy.

For more information and developments related to the coronavirus, visit the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for ongoing news and updates.

Going Viral: The Music Industry Grapples With The Worldwide Coronavirus Outbreak

Coachella 2019

Coachella 2019

Photo: Rich Fury/Getty Images

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Report: Coachella Postponed To 2021 report-coachella-postponed-2021

Report: Coachella Postponed To 2021

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As parent company AEG lays off 15 percent of its workforce, the festival's officials are considering a potential limited-capacity event next April or a higher-capacity event in October 2021
John Ochoa
GRAMMYs
Jun 10, 2020 - 12:10 pm

Update Thursday (June 11) at 6:09 p.m. EST: In a press release, Goldenvoice officially announced the rescheduling of the 2021 installments of Coachella and its country music festival counterpart, Stagecoach, stating, "Under the continuing health guidance of the County of Riverside, Coachella and Stagecoach 2020 will not take place this October as previously rescheduled. This is not the future that any of us hoped to confront, but our main focus remains the well-being of our fans, staff, artists, desert partners and everyone involved in the festival." The press release states Coachella is scheduled to now take place across two weekends next April, with the first weekend happening April 9–11, followed by weekend two on April 16–18; Stagecoach will take place the following weekend, April 23–25. According to the announcement, all festivals will feature new lineups and all 2020 passes will be honored for 2021. 2020 ticket-holders will receive an email about refunds or ticket rollovers Monday (June 15).

Update: On Wednesday (June 10), the 2020 editions of Coachella and Stagecoach, both of which are Goldenvoice festival properties, were officially canceled "due to county and state restrictions" related to the coronavirus pandemic, Billboard reports. "I am concerned as indications grow that COVID-19 could worsen in the fall," Riverside Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser wrote in an official statement from Riverside County where both festivals take place. "In addition, events like Coachella and Stagecoach would fall under [California] Governor Newsom’s Stage 4, which he has previously stated would require treatments or a vaccine to enter. Given the projected circumstances and potential, I would not be comfortable moving forward."

After being rescheduled from April to October, this year's installment of Coachella has been postponed once again to 2021, largely due to major financial problems caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

According to Billboard, which broke the news Tuesday (June 9), officials at Goldenvoice, the organizers behind Coachella, are determining whether the festival will return next April, potentially in a limited capacity, or as a higher-capacity event in October 2021; the three-day festival typically attracts 125,000 people per day across two weekends.

At the time of this writing, Coachella has not made an official announcement about the postponement. 

The cancelation follows a major wave of cost-cutting initiatives at AEG, the global concert promoter and parent company of Goldenvoice. On Monday (June 8), AEG laid off 15 percent of its workforce, furloughed more than 100 employees and instituted significant pay cuts, which collectively mark the "deepest staff cuts in the company's history," as noted by Billboard.

"It is clear now that live events with fans will not resume for many months and likely not until sometime in 2021," Dan Beckerman, a chief executive at AEG, wrote in a note to employees ahead of the layoffs, according to Billboard. He also said every employee worldwide "will be impacted in one form or another" by the staff cuts, calling the decision "agonizing" but "necessary" for the company's long-term success. 

Read: Recording Academy And MusiCares Establish COVID-19 Relief Fund

According to Billboard, approximately 40 percent of Coachella ticket-buyers requested refunds for this year's festival. AEG officials believe they can produce the festival next April at 60 percent capacity, but they will not commit to rescheduling the 2021 event until they know more about the pandemic's trajectory.

The festival's postponement and the company's staff cuts come as the coronavirus pandemic has virtually shut down the global concert business following strict stay-at-home orders and closures of nonessential businesses worldwide that have caused many live music venues and events companies to shut their doors—some permanently.

Rumors surrounding Coachella's 2020 postponement first surfaced in early March, just when the COVID-19 pandemic began to severely impact the music industry. Since then, businesses and several U.S. states have begun to open their doors nationwide. The live music industry has since implemented novel ideas, such as drive-in concerts, virtual festivals, and socially distanced events, but large-scale festivals and gatherings are not likely to return this year. 

Read: Lollapalooza 2020 Canceled, Along With Other Chicago Summer Fests, Due To Coronavirus Concerns

AEG could potentially begin to reintroduce concerts across its many venues around the world as early as the fourth quarter of 2020 or early 2021, Billboard reports, which will help the company rehire its furloughed employees once it locks in a timetable and solidifies an approach. 

"It is our responsibility as a management team to protect our company and make sure that we are positioned for long-term success, and we are focused on this critical objective," Beckerman wrote in the note to staff, according to Billboard. "The world is slowly re-opening, and our industry will re-open later and more slowly than most. As a result, our organization and workforce have to adapt and evolve to meet the demands, challenges and economic circumstances we are likely to face when we emerge from this crisis."

The Best Apps & Tools For Recording And Monetizing Music In The COVID-19 Era 

Ultra Music Festival 2018

Ultra Music Festival 2018

Photo: Sergi Alexander/Getty Images

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2019 Music Festivals: Coachella, Ultra & More 2019-music-festival-preview-noise-pop-coachella-ultra-more

2019 Music Festival Preview: Noise Pop, Coachella, Ultra & More

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With next year’s lineups dropping left and right, we've created a helpful roundup to help you decide which music fests to attend (or livestream from your couch)
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jan 1, 2019 - 9:51 am

Music festivals the world over have been releasing their 2019 lineups for a hot minute. Such an abundance of choice can be overwhelming, so to help you prepare, we organized an overview of some of the biggest events you may want to snag tickets to.

From the desert-set musical smorgasbord that is Coachella, to Ultra and Electric Forest's laser-filled dance floors, to SXSW and Noise Pop's up-and-coming indie events, read on to narrow down which music fests you’ll travel to (or livestream from the couch) in 2019.

https://twitter.com/noisepop/status/1067851009035132929

Phase 2 is a GO!
Princess Nokia 😍
Petit Biscuit 💿

🗣 Bay Area debuts from MNEK, Chynna, Hana Vu and more

Last but not least, Uffie--making a triumphant return to the Bay since '07 💥

Indv. tickets + Phase 2 Badges are on sale now at https://t.co/mFBc66zm9K pic.twitter.com/srntC1ek26

— Noise Pop (@noisepop) November 28, 2018

West Coast

Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival

Tupac's iconic lyrics are just as relevant as ever: "California knows how to party." It's definitely the case when Coachella lights up Indio, Calif. every April. The iconic desert fest always brings an exciting and stacked mix of artists both big and rising across genres—and the upcoming 20th anniversary event more than lives up to the hype.

The headliners alone are enough to get excited about, with this year's lineup featuring GRAMMY winner Childish Gambino and GRAMMY nominees Tame Impala and Ariana Grande. Even more impressive, Grande will be the fourth-ever solo female headlining artist at the event, following in the footsteps of GRAMMY winners Beyoncé and Lady Gaga.

There are plenty of other gems on the lineup, with Latin music artists making big waves beyond the Spanish-language market: Latin GRAMMY and GRAMMY nominee Bad Bunny, Latin GRAMMY winner Rosalía and Latin GRAMMY winner/GRAMMY nominee J Balvin are on board for Coachella. Plus, plenty of rising stars are represented, including first-time GRAMMY nominees H.E.R. and Ella Mai, viral teen sensation Billie Eilish, indie/electro R&B artist Blood Orange and GRAMMY-nominated dance/pop duo Sofi Tukker.

The 2019 event will return for two three-day weekend events, on April 12–14 and 19–21. Tickets and more info can be found on Coachella's website.

Noise Pop Festival

While you probably can't rock your denim cutoffs in San Francisco in February, you can get your live music fix early with Noise Pop Festival, which runs from Feb. 25 to March 3. The 26-year-old event specializes in up-and-coming indie acts, with a solid sprinkling of well-established fan favorites. Noise Pop prides itself on bringing "early exposure to many emerging artists," with plenty of previous acts going on to become household names, including GRAMMY winners The White Stripes and The Flaming Lips and GRAMMY nominees Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse. Additionally, the event takes place at venues across the San Francisco Bay Area, making use of the historic venues around S.F. and beyond, giving attendees the ability to not only explore all the area has to offer, but to also pick and choose which shows they want to see.

Noise Pop 2019 will include performances from indie rock/folk darlings Beirut, The Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr., Bob Mould of '80s alt-rock group Hüsker Dü, along with electro/dream-pop artist Baths, indie-pop singer/songwriter Caroline Rose, Aussie electro-R&B duo Kllo, Latina rapper Princess Nokia and more.

All access passes are available for purchase, as well as individual tickets for specific shows. Check out Noise Pop's website for more info.

CRSSD Festival

If warmer weather and dance music is more your scene, check out CRSSD in San Diego, Calif. The electronic music-focused festival hosts an event every spring and fall by the ocean in sunny Southern California. Their spring 2019 event will be held on March 2–3 and features some big names, including GRAMMY nominees ODESZA and dark electro-pop duo Phantogram, as well as plenty of popular underground house and techno favorites, like Luttrell, The Martinez Brothers, Avalon Emerson and more.

Head to CRSSD's site to snag tickets and view the full phase one lineup.

Find your new favorite artist at #SXSW 2019. https://t.co/SZbtHbK1Vo pic.twitter.com/oAHSvsUkNf

— SXSW (@sxsw) December 27, 2018

South

SXSW Music Festival

The week-long extravaganza of SXSW Music Festival will take over Austin, Tex. From March 11–17 with hundreds of music acts in venues across the city. Similar to Noise Pop, SXSW populates its lineup with up-and-comers from around the world, plus features a handful of established stars—like Prince—popping up in intimate venues: The late GRAMMY-winning icon gave a small crowd of lucky fans an almost three-hour show at SXSW 2013.

While there are countless unofficial SXSW shows all over the city, the SXSW official 2019 lineup boasts over 480 diverse acts so far. Some of the showcasing artists announced are GRAMMY-winning rapper Wyclef Jean, who will also be a featured speaker, Los Angeles-based (by way of San Francisco) psych-rock group Thee Oh Sees, and Chicago-based electro R&B duo DRAMA. There’s also plenty of international talent on the docket, including Argentinean Latin trap star Ecko, Netherlands-born, Australia-based pop songstress Wafia and Nigerian Afrobeat singer/songwriter Mr. Eazi.

To pore over the extensive lineup, check out ticket options and more, visit SXSW's website.

Hangout Music Fest

If you're looking for something where you can chill in one spot, perhaps by a body of water, Hangout Music Fest in Gulf Shores, Ala. may be more along the lines of what you're craving. The 10th anniversary, which the organizers have coined a "music vacation," will take place on May 17–19 on the beach.

The stacked lineup of over 50 acts is pretty diverse among artists and genres, with big names in dance music such as GRAMMY winner Diplo, GRAMMY nominees Mura Masa and Sofi Tukker, along with Detroit hero GRiZ and dance festival favorite Alison Wonderland.

Meanwhile, artists in the pop/indie-rock arena include GRAMMY nominees Hozier and Bebe Rexha, as well fan favorites The 1975, Walk The Moon and Jimmy Eat World. 

For more info and to see the complete list of artists, visit the Hangout Fest website.

ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES RELOCATION TO VIRGINIA KEY AS NEW HOME

AGREEMENT REACHED WITH CITY OF MIAMI

Ultra Music Festival has announced its indefinite new home ahead of the monumental 21st edition, the Historic Virginia Key Beach Park and Miami Marine Stadium Flex Park. pic.twitter.com/9f8ujz2yUc

— Ultra Music Festival (@ultra) November 16, 2018

Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival

Founded in 2002, this down-south outdoor fest once specialized in all things folk and jam band. Nowadays, the lineup's diversified a bit, welcoming artists of nearly every popular genre.  

This year's Bonnaroo will take place June 13–16 at Great Stage Park, a 700-acre farm and event space in Manchester, Tenn., 60 miles southeast of Nashville. In its 18th year, the festival will feature a wide range of artists performing around the clock across more than 10 stages. Festival organizers also promise an array of new features and improvements this year, including upgrades to the site's communal areas, known as Plazas, with free public WiFi, showers, charging stations, medical and safety stations, and more.

The festivities kick off On June 13 with Grand Ole Opry Featuring Special Guests. Friday, June 14 headliners include Phish, Childish Gambino, Solange, The Avett Brothers, Brockhampton, Courtney Barnett, Gojira, K.Flay and more. Saturday, June 15, will showcase Post Malone, Odesza, Hozier, Musgraves, The National, ZHU, John Prine, Maren Morris, and more, while Sunday, June 16 will see Phish return with two sets, plus The Lumineers, Cardi B, Carlile, Walk The Moon, Mac DeMarco, King Princess, The Wood Brothers, and many more.

Also new for 2019, Bonnaroo will feature a "Sanctuary of Self-Love" campground experience curated by none other than Paramore's Hayley Williams. There will also be circus acts, immersive cinema shows, theme parties, and Bonnaroo's first-ever Pride parade.

Tickets for Bonnaroo go on sale Thursday, Jan. 10 at 12 p.m. EST exclusively via the festival's website.

East Coast

Woodstock 50th Anniversary

In the summer of 1969, a dairy farm in Upstate New York hosted one of the most renowned music festivals of the 20th century, the Woodstock Music And Arts Fair. Now, as Woodstock approaches its 50th anniversary this August, the excitement to relive the summer of '69 returns, with two music festivals aiming for just that. An official Woodstock 50th music festival has been announced by one of the iconic gathering's original promoters, Michael Lang. It will be held at a different location, further upstate in Watkins Glen, complete with glamping. The Bethel Woods Center For The Arts, located on the site of the original event, has also announced that they will host an unofficial celebration—the Bethel Woods Music and Culture Festival on Aug. 16–18.

There's no lineup announcement or tickets offered for either event yet, so we’ll just have to wait to see if any living Woodstock legends, like the GRAMMY-winning group Santana, who launched their career on the famed Woodstock stage, will return.

Ultra Music Festival

The EDM-centric Ultra Music Festival is returning for the 21st year of their flagship festival in its home base of Miami on March 29–31. The dance music mecca's new oceanside venue on Virginia Key will allow the 2019 offering to host more attendees for longer hours. The artists this year are sure to get you moving, with a wide range of dance music favorites, from big room house to some more underground acts.

Some of the big DJ/producers on the list include GRAMMY winners Afrojack, the Chainsmokers, Dubfire, David Guetta, Tiësto and Zedd, plus GRAMMY nominees Alesso, Armin Van Buuren, Deadmau5, Galantis and ODESZA. Underground faves include The Martinez Brothers, Maceo Plex and Tale of Us.

To scope the complete lineup and ticket options, check out Ultra's website.

Governors Ball

Governors Ball Music Festival is returning for their ninth year on Randall's Island Park in New York City on May 31–June 2. Governors Ball 2019 will bring The Strokes and GRAMMY nominees Tyler, the Creator and Florence & the Machine as headliners.

The three-day event of music, art, food and fun certainly brings an N.Y.C.-inspired melting pot approach to their musical lineup, and this year does not disappoint. Other musical highlights include: GRAMMY winners Lil Wayne and Kacey Musgraves, GRAMMY nominees SZA, Nas, The Internet, Jorja Smith, Bob Moses, Charli XCX, ZHU, plus Vince Staples, BROCKHAMPTON, Blood Orange, Clairo, Bazzi, MØ, Major Lazer (DJs Jillionaire, Walshy Fire and GRAMMY winner Diplo), Noname, Kaytranada, Gesaffelstein and King Princess.

More info on tickets, as well as the complete lineup and event details can be found on the Governors Ball site.

Electric Forest Festival

The annual Electric Forest Festival likes to keeps things interesting with a solid mix of jam bands and electronic acts among the forest in Rothbury, Michigan. The 2019 fest will take place on June 27–30 and lists ethereal electronic duo ODESZA, tropical house DJ/producer Kygo and bass music heavy hitters Bassnectar and Zeds Dead as the headliners.

Other artists range from GRAMMY-nominated deep-house duo Bob Moses, Detroit house legend Claude VonStroke, female bass powerhouses Alison Wonderland and TOKiMONSTA, who is a first-time GRAMMY nominee this year.

The jam bands are led by The String Cheese Incident, an Electric Forest mainstay, who will be doing three performances over the weekend, along with the The Floozies and STS9, who blur the line of electronic music, psych-rock and hip-hop.

GRAMMY winner T-Pain represents the smaller hip-hop contingency, along with rising female rapper, and first-time GRAMMY nominee, Tierra Whack.

For more info on tickets, including on the VIP lodge camping offering, check out Electric Forest's site.

No matter your musical and venue taste, there are plenty of festivals this year to keep you dancing all year long. Stay tuned to grammy.com for updates on new lineup releases, along with exclusive behind-the-scenes artist interviews from the biggest events as we approach festival season.

Ed Sheeran, Mariah Carey & More Broke Big Music Records In 2018

GRAMMYs

Chorus practices outdoors this year at Countryside High School in Pinellas County, Florida.
Photo courtesy of Christy King

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Puppy Pads And Slit Masks: How COVID Changed The Look Of Music Education

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COVID-era problems put pressure on teachers to work creatively, while fearing for the future
Emilee Lindner
GRAMMYs
Sep 21, 2020 - 9:01 am

Those living in Kingsman, Arizona, shouldn’t be surprised if they hear 30 kids yelling simultaneously from Lee Williams High School. That’s just Shannon Bascombe’s marching band letting out their COVID-19 frustrations.

"The kids were like, ‘Hey, Ms. B, can we, like, scream into the void for 10 seconds at the beginning of practice?'" Bascombe recalled. "'Yeah, sure, I’ll give you guys 10 seconds to just yell it out.' … Then they’ll start learning drill."

The coronavirus pandemic has made returning to school this fall a touchy debate. With each district whipping up its own tentative plan, students are either attending school armed with masks, learning virtually from home or doing a half-and-half schedule. They’ve pushed start dates, altered schedules and introduced new technology. Several schools GRAMMY.com contacted for this story set a date in September or October to reassess and adjust, aiming for in-person instruction by 2021. Needless to say, a little scream therapy is warranted—not just for students, but for teachers, parents and administrators as well.

So how does music education fit into the new school plans? Unlike math or history, which can rely on individual study, collaborative ensembles like band, chorus and orchestra cannot. With social distancing measures in place, getting a band of 50 students placed six feet apart in one room is, well, impossible. Not to mention the whole aerosol concern with kids blowing on their horns. Online group rehearsal doesn’t work either, due to latency issues.

With those difficulties in mind, districts across the country have already cut arts programs. And those teachers who still have their jobs are feeling the pressure to keep them by proving their worth.

"[Parents are] OK with the core teachers being at home and being able to give assignments," says Jake Olimpi, marching band and orchestra director at Marple Newtown High School in Pennsylvania. "But what is the art teacher doing, what is the music teacher doing? They’re getting paid and where’s the result?"

That pressure, atop the duty to keep students safe, healthy and engaged has become the new challenge for teachers, who are also haunted by the pandemic’s long lasting effects on music education.

Masks On Instruments And Puppy Pads

The spread of aerosols, a.k.a. air and saliva, forced the Centers for Disease Control to recommend the six-feet social distancing rule months ago. But when it came to the performing arts, there was little scientific evidence on how singing and instrument playing contributed to aerosol spread. A study from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), published without peer review in July, gave music teachers some answers.

Conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder, the study found that instruments released fewer aerosols if they were masked at the bell. They found even fewer aerosols when the player wore a slitted mask. In order to return to in-person ensembles, authors of the study also suggested these points:

  • Musicians must stay six feet apart (nine feet for trombonists)
  • Bell covers should have a Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) of 13 (although any covering is better than none)
  • Spit valves should empty into absorbent sheets like puppy pads
  • Rehearsal times should be limited to 30 minutes
  • Instructors should wait one HVAC air change between classes
  • HEPA filters should be in rehearsal spaces
  • Outdoor rehearsals are recommended over indoor ones

With the scientific guidance, teachers got to work crafting what fall 2020 would look like… and now that school’s back in session, music classes certainly don’t look like they did before. At Bascombe’s school in Arizona, they’re following the NFHS guidelines nearly to a T.

GRAMMYs

The students at Tarpon Springs Leadership Conservatory for the Arts stick to their cones and try out their new bell covers.
Credit: Anna Ottens

"When they come into the room, they have to wash their hands, drop their stuff off," Bascombe says. "We go through the symptom checker from the Mayo Clinic every day when they walk into the room… All of the doors are propped open so the kids have minimal touch. There's hand sanitizer everywhere. Mouthpiece cleaner everywhere."

Bascombe's woodwinds, brass, percussion and colorguard all get their own room. Every Friday, she spends an additional hour and a half disinfecting each room, including the bathroom her students use.

At the Southern Nevada Homeschool Performing Arts, program director Bonnie Buhler-Tanouye says brass players wear slitted masks, akin to "boys' underwear," and flute players wear shields. She says parents are willing to do even more in order to get their nearly shutdown Las Vegas music scene rolling again.

GRAMMYs

The students at Southern Nevada Homeschool Performing Arts wear face shields and slitted masks on the first day of band practice. 
Courtesy: Bonnie Buhler-Tanouye

"One of the parents I was talking to the other day, because I was reminding her of masks for her trumpet player, she said, ‘You know what, put me in a hazmat suit, if you have to. Whatever we have to do to get back to playing music together,'" Buhler-Tanouye recalled.

The NFHS study deemed outdoor rehearsal better for dispersing aerosols. Summer band camps served as positive test runs for the rest of the school year, with students respectively keeping their distance. Water and sunscreen breaks are frequent and essential. In Pinellas County Schools in Florida, humidity plagues practices, but kids are happy to endure sweating for a chance to play together, says Jeanne Reynolds, performing arts specialist for the district.

"If you teach in Florida and you're a band teacher, you become a meteorologist," Jeanne said. "'Cause it’s not just hurricanes; we’ve got pretty good thunderstorms, so you have to know when to get out of harm’s way. Which we all do."

What happens when the temperature drops? When playing outside is no longer an option, bands will be forced to limit the size of their ensembles, based on dimensions of their rooms and state guidelines. Some schools have already taken band class off the schedule completely, exchanging it for smaller groups, broken up alphabetically or by instrument.

Smaller ensembles introduce two problems, though. First, smaller groups equate to more classes, meaning teachers' course loads have increased. Music programs like the one at Bergenfield High School in New Jersey rely on a large staff, which allows them to assign one teacher each to virtual and in-person classes for all of their ensembles. Bergenfield’s band director, Brian Timmons, considers his program lucky; not all schools have the resources.

Second, teachers must find music for a ragtag chamber ensemble. For example, if groups were split numerically by students' names, a director might end up with a flute, three trombones, five bass clarinets and a french horn in a class, and music for a combo like that is rare. Thankfully, publishers like Alfred, Hal Leonard and RWS Music Company have flexible arrangements that can be split into a few basic parts, and have become more available during COVID.

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The supply of cleaning materials Shannon Bascombe uses to disinfect the band rooms at Lee Williams High School. 
Courtesy: Shannon Bascombe

But will the music ever get performed? State guidelines vary, but indoor maximum capacity has been limited to as few as 25 people per room. Gathering an audience would be infeasible.

Perhaps concerts aren’t even necessary. According to Timmons, it’s time to shake up the dusty format anyway.

"Music education has been so performance-driven all the time," Timmons says. "And we never take time to explore the other things like the chamber playing or the composition or just ear training in and of itself or theory."

Students taking virtual band obviously don’t have to deal with these new precautions and guidelines, but they also don’t get to play together. As Timmons says, they’re working on individual assignments, like learning music production, which allows them to sew together an ensemble, piece by piece. Timmons' students will work on a shared online workspace to record music. It gives students the power to collaborate remotely, he says.

"They can listen to each other’s part and say, ‘OK, our articulation is not punching there. We’re going to have to rerecord this section,'" Timmons says. "I have three teenagers of my own. I watch them killing it on TikTok. If you can do that, there’s no reason why I can’t teach you how to do this."

And then there’s the fact that some schools are taking little to no precaution. Music teacher Nathan Smith says he was fired from Oakdale Academy in Michigan after expressing his concern over the safety of students and staff. The private Christian high school is not requiring masks this fall, per a letter sent home to parents.

"I had so many plans for this school year," Smith said. "I certainly wasn't ready to leave without seeing any of my kids again."

The Lost Generation And Long-Term Effects

It’s a struggle to keep current music students engaged, but it’s a completely new challenge to get more kids involved. Recruitment requires getting instruments into the hands of fourth graders and presenting the allure of a polished, performing ensemble—hurdles made higher by COVID.

Lackluster recruitment will have damaging effects on the future of music education, says Robert W. Smith, a composer, arranger and professor at Troy University, who has written hundreds of works for high school-level ensembles.

"We cannot have a lost generation of musicians, and we’re about to have it," Smith says.

If too few young musicians join band, orchestra and choir programs, the ensembles will see dwindling numbers in each subsequent year, all the way up to college groups.

"This is like aftershocks of an earthquake or second and third waves of a tsunami," Smith says.

Current music students also face the loss of competition and adjudication—third-party feedback that lends itself toward improvement. Many in-person music competitions have been canceled for the fall. On the upside, some organizations have offered virtual adjudication, where students and ensembles can send in their performances for assessment.

But the long-term effects aren’t all bad. Timmons insists that it’s only shifting focus for COVID-era students to prepare for a more viable music career—one that isn’t totally based on performance (though still valuable), but digital skills.

"If you’re going to be successful in music, you have to have a basic understanding of how digital audio works, even if you’re a classical-style player," Timmons says. "You gotta have an understanding. If we can teach them how to use a digital audio workstation, even if it’s some kind of cloud-based thing, recording themselves and then as a chamber ensemble recording their own product, we’re kind of unlocking skills."

All of this means that music educators are getting even more creative than before, out of necessity.

"Music teachers by nature are problems solvers. It’s what we do," Timmons says. "Listen, troubleshoot, feedback, adjustment, listen, troubleshoot, does that sound good? This is just another problem to solve. It’s just a little more problematic than fixing the intonation of a chord."

Marching Six Feet Apart: How High School Marching Bands Are Coping With The Pandemic

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