Should labels continue releasing music during lockdown?
Yes, labels and artists should be releasing music during lockdown.
As everyone fumbles around trying to navigate through the COVID-19 crisis and the uncertainty of the next paycheck, the norm is out the window and adaptability is key (as always) for survival.
With no one going out and spending money.
As a business, if you are able to make the move online, then great. Otherwise, you are stressing balls.
One industry that has been making the move online in the past decade and more is the music industry, particularly electronic music.
Where mainstream music gets revenue from physical CD sales (even with a decline), electronic music sales primarily stem from online music merchants like Beatport, Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music and TIDAL among others.
So, should labels and artists release music during lockdown?
Hell yeah! Without any gigs, music sales are paramount to survival, even if this revenue stream is not massive for indie artists.
Make and release, repeat
People are stuck at home starved for entertainment, and I guarantee you music fans are going through music like crazy making Spotify playlists, listening to their favourite SoundCloud sets and watching live stream sets.
In a world that’s gone mad, music is keeping us all sane with new music being the ultimate antidote.
We have been granted the time to fully excavate and dissect new music, aurally exploring the nooks and crannies of the soundscapes.
And, as fate would have it, labels ARE in fact releasing new music.
Yesterday- Monday 6 April- over 1000 new tracks spanning plethora genres were released on Beatport.
Small revenue stream aside, releasing new music keeps artists on the radar, which will help them get more gigs once lockdown is lifted.
At the end of the day, making money from streaming and selling records is all artists have at the moment, making releasing music during lockdown essential- so please give us more music!
