As coronavirus continues to spread, economists are coming up with all sorts of murky estimations about its economic impact. That should not come to us as any surprise because nearly all the sectors have paused their business operations. However, some industries have been struck by the global pandemic that they are not far away from the breaking point. The entertainment industry is one of them. The reason behind this is not difficult to crack. If you want to watch a movie or attend a live music session, you will have to leave the house. Any sane government can’t allow the mass number of people to gather in one place under these grim circumstances. Especially if the situation happens to be as small as a movie theatre. The curve is flattening in many countries, and people are somewhat inching forward to a healthy life. But it will take considerable time before we finally resume our entertainment activities.
Let’s go into the specifics of how COVID-19 is making a worldwide impact on the entertainment industry:
No live music events:
If you have been to a live music concert, you would know how it feels seeing your favorite singer, band or artist nailing it on the stage. You can hardly walk out of such an event without having goosebumps. Even though the modern-day people are facilitated with a variety of tools that can help them to experience music wherever they want, the demand for live music sessions has only surged. That is precisely why the industry is going to worth a whopping 31 billion dollars globally in the next two years. But coronavirus has put a stop to everything. Neither musicians nor concert lovers can continue the business as usual.
Musicians have ushered a unique way to reach out to their fans instead of making peace with the miserable scenario. They are doing online concerts and pulling off a sizeable audience. The most significant benefit of indulging in a digital show is perhaps that it defies the geographical boundaries. Put simply; you can perform in front of people hailing from different regions of the world.
So apart from that, you don’t need to wait for more for the Courtney Hadwin’s album release date and will enjoy it soon after her album completion. So then you can enjoy it while staying home due to COVID-19. One can enjoy plenty of live concerts on the web-world as well. It won’t be surprising if online shows remain with us even after coronavirus is nibbed in the bud.
Theaters Entertainment Industry:
Theaters are a central component of the entertainment industry. Over the last couple of decades, they have begun to generate more revenue by steadily introducing a significant spike in the ticket price. But the contemporary year is not going down well with movie theaters. We have barely stepped into 2020, and experts are already advocating that the performance of movie theaters would be hitting rock-bottom by the end of this year. Owing to the aggressive trend of on-demand movies and streaming services, the drop in ticket sales was not entirely unexpected.
Just when theaters were fighting the battle of their survival, coronavirus seems to break their back completely. As with the other non-essential businesses, theaters also had to be shut down to minimize the infection. The closure was so abrupt that the popular films, which were likely to fill the cinema houses with a flood of viewers, failed in the box office. It is not the first time that cinema houses are keeping up with a financial crunch of such magnitude. Spanish Influenza also accounted for a significant overhaul after 1918, and everything came back to the track after some time. But it is too early to preempt the loss because people will not turn to the cinema halls the day lockdown is even lifted.
New movies are not coming anytime soon:
Filmmaking is an exceptionally collaborative task. It involves a bunch of people, including spot boys, cameraman, actors, costume designer, director, makeup artist, and so on. Even in a country like China where lockdown has been somewhat softened, only 50 people are allowed at a shooting site. So now we don’t know how long these films will take to complete. But one thing is sure; new movies are not hitting the scene at least in the span of the next few months. Dozens of films are all dolled up for release but can’t be screened at the moment.
Conclusion
Finally, the most important thing for the entertainment industry is to help to slow down the spread of coronavirus and keep people aware of what people should do to stay risk-free. Coronavirus has deeply affected the entertainment industry. Worse still, some of the implications are so severe that the industry will have to deal with them long after the pandemic is eliminated. If you are a film-fanatic or concert-enthusiast, you may have to undergo a few hiccups shortly.