Yeah, like I said, it might get me sent to DC because it is a political issue but in no way is it a partisan issue. Our entire government participates in the buying and selling of favors. Elected officials, appointees, salaried bureaucrats - they all do it whenever and wherever they can. It has nothing to do with party affliation and in many ways, the two party system reinforces the behavior as deep down there's very little difference in the motivation of the two parties, just a difference in who is doing the "motivating".
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Venues are gone. Bands have broken up and moved on to day jobs.

It won't come back the way it was. The foundation for it is gone.

But hey, we'll still have commercial pop music. Taylor Swift made it through the pandemic okay. Her and Katy Perry will probably write a song about how they rode it out in their mansions.
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Eh, maybe. I see plenty of artists who have released albums recently that they've been working on while they couldn't be touring. I've watched 3-4 live concerts that were put on in empty venues. I did a virtual meet and greet with one of my favorite indy bands.

I have no doubt that there will be a short-term hit, but I don't see any major reason why things won't rebound eventually.
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In the article (which nobody read I’m sure), an owner mentioned the use of cellphones in bars. People slap em up on the bar like “guns from a holster” back in the day. Families eat while staring at their phones.


So maybe people today are anti social and that’s the true reason bars, and live concerts, and yes: sports games are losing appeal. Not “comforts of home”
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Of the bars mentioned in the article I have been to Ricky`s. Truly a one of a kind bar. Hope they survive.
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That's a part of it, many people's lives are inside of their phones, we're more connected than ever but at the same time anti-social.
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Many of the bands I follow put out albums too but they don't make money on albums. In fact, in the world of streaming, they often LOSE money because streaming services literally pay hundredths of a cent on the dollar.

Those bands depend on touring and they're now broke. Those albums they released will be their last if they can't start touring again soon. Many of them have actually already given up.
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:-)
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Maybe true for sports bars but definitely not true for live music.

I got to a lot of small venue concerts. They were constantly packed. Many of those small venues are now out of business.
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Sports bars became a ridiculous waste of money more than a decade ago.

$15 dollars for parking, $10 dollars for a beer, $20 dollars for a burger - Seriously, who wants to pay those type of prices for something that can be watched at home in most cases?

Sports bars were bound to die off because people's viewing habits have changed with the advent of Streaming and DVR's. Millennials and Gen-Zers would rather spend their extra cash on Amazon and Starbucks, not on beers and burgers in a sports bar.
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The movie Birdman was about live theater. In one scene an actor (played by Ed Norton) yells at the audience “”Oh, come on people, don't be so pathetic. Stop looking at the world through your cellphone screens. Have a real experience!”



I think about that often when I go to a Royals game or restaurant and see folks glued to their phone.
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Unless you're a Legacy Act or a Pop Star, you're not making money in the music business, period. Most of the bands on tours like The Van's Warped Tour and similar are being funded by their parents: The bands themselves are barely breaking even and in most cases, they're losing money.

Streaming doesn't pay Indie Artists or even Major Label Artists nearly enough money to survive as as band, let alone, survive as people that can purchase a home. Only those backed by big money Production Companies, Labels and "The Machine" are going to make any substantial money and those are few and far between.

The chances of your children or your children's friends getting together in a garage or basement and becoming the next "Big Thing" are about 100 Billion to One.

Illegal digital file sharing in the 90's changed the Business of Music forever and it's never, ever, ever, going back to the way it was in the 1950's to around 1995.

Never.
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This is what is happening here. I know a guy who has been doing it for decades but decided to give it all up because of this. I haven't been able to play for a year and it's driving me crazy.
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Ironic the generation always talking about pulling themselves up by the bootstraps is being pussys
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I know that the business is largely break-even for those kinds of bands. That's my point - the only way they can even break even is to tour. They make money primarily off of merchandise so they can buy gas to get to the next show.

Nobody is expecting it to be like it was pre-streaming but just like it was pre-COVID, when on any given night in a shithole like Des Moines, IA, there was 2 or 3 live alternative/metal shows to choose from in a venue that supported 200-400 people.

Those places are gone and many of those bands are too.
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