The full impact of Covid-19 on our nation's health is yet to be determined, but the impact on the music industry is being felt far and wide as shows, festivals and tours are working hard to make the best decisions for the health and safety of the artists, fans and everyone involved in the music scene.
The effects on the music industry is only a small peek into how the coronavirus is impacting the global economy. From the artist to the crew to the fan, from the venues to the hotels and airlines. It will take some time to calculate the cost of tour cancellations as well as the tangible and intangible financial investments that go into creating a successful tour.
To tour or not to tour, that is the question
To ensure the safety of all involved, many artists and festivals are making the difficult decision to cancel or postpone their tour. Some areas are making the decision for them - France has banned all gatherings over 1,000 people, effectively canceling Madonna's Paris shows as well as many others.
The following festivals, tours and shows have been canceled:
FESTIVALS
Big Ears Festival - Knoxville TN based festival, focused on music, film and arts.
Coachella - rescheduled for October, this 2 weekend festival in Indio, CA will proceed as planned later in the year.
South by Southwest - The City of Austin, TX announced the decision to cancel SXSW late last week, an unprecedented event in the organization's 34 year history.
Tours
Avril Lavigne - a 12 day Asian tour has been cancelled.
Ben Harper - tour dates were canceled for early March shows in Asia.
Green Day - Asian tour scheduled for March has been postponed.
Khalid - all tour dates in Asia have been canceled.
Kiss - concerts continue however all meet and greets have been canceled.
Mariah Carey - a one night show in Hawaii has been canceled.
Old Dominion - UK portion of their tour has been canceled.
Pearl Jam - the Seattle based band has announced a postponement of their spring tour, citing the high volume of cases in their state of Washington.
Pentatonix - their World Tour, scheduled to begin March 16th, has been canceled.
Santana - days before their European tour kicked off, the decision was made to cancel the tour in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
YES - several US shows have been canceled as well as their participation in "the Cruise to the Edge" cruise to Honduras and Belize.
Zac Brown Band - after playing the first 5 dates of their spring tour, the band decided to postpone the remainder of their spring tour. As of this writing, their summer tour schedule has not been impacted.
Both Billboard and Rolling Stone have been keeping a running tally of the cancellations affecting the music industry. Be sure to check their sites often to confirm dates and information.
How is the coronavirus affecting your tour or festival plans?