Nearly half of the thousands of people working in live music in South Africa might quit the business for good, according to the country’s biggest-ever survey on the effects of 2020’s Covid-19 shutdown.

Some 47% of live music industry professionals, including artists, say they are at risk of being driven out of the industry altogether due to their inability to continue with “music-related activities” at present, reveals Impact Analysis: Live Music and its Venues and the South African economy during COVID-19, a report by the South African Cultural Observatory (SACO).

SACO commissioned the research in August to discover how the sector has been affected by the measures imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus. “It is important we understand how the various sectors of the industry have been affected and continue to be affected by the pandemic, as this empowers us to provide better insights to both policy makers and the industry,” said the organisation’s executive director, Unathi Lutshaba.

Among the study’s key findings are:

• A majority of respondents had previously been operating for more than five years, but the impact of Covid-19 has been devastating even on these established practitioners. Around 90% of the live music industry lost income due to Covid-19 and 25% indicated that they would not be able to continue with any elements of their business under lockdown

Around 90% of the live music industry lost income due to Covid-19

• Industry professionals have attempted to respond flexibly and with agility to the crisis, with 88% attempting various online music alternatives in a very short space of time. However many had to resort to more severe measures such as terminating short-term contracts (23%), retrenching employees (13%) or cutting employee salaries (18%). Only 6% of respondents could continue to pay all employees
• The predominantly informal and project-based nature of all music-related work means that many industry actors were unable or ineligible to apply for or secure any form of government relief, since all required extensive formal documentation. Only 7% reported that they had successfully applied for the various SMME [small, medium and micro enterprises] support mechanisms available, while 21% indicated that they had successful applied to the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture for funding. Without access to support, many have resorted to the sale of equipment and assets, and reliance on financial support from friends and family
• The participants also called for decentralisation of programmes, projects and infrastructure, with a focus on the local – including shifting funding away from large-scale events towards local music initiatives, venues and performance spaces

In response to the findings, the SACO report makes a number of recommendations, including launching a national ‘music desk’ specifically to work with the music industry and reducing licensing costs and red tape around the use of public space for Covid-secure performances.

“It is our hope that this report will contribute in some small way towards the industry and stakeholders from other industries who wish to participate assisting in the recovery,” adds Lutshaba.

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A South African public research body has an unveiled online tool to measure the economic impact of music festivals.

The South African Festival Economic Impact Calculator (SAFEIC), developed by the Department of Arts and Culture’s South African Cultural Observatory (SACO), analyses three elements of economic impact: total spending on accommodation; total amount spent by festival promoters in the host economy; and actual economic impact, including the multiplier effect on the host economy.

The tool – the brainchild of American academic Bruce Seaman, of Georgia State University, and Rhodes University lecturer Jen Snowball, also SACO’s chief research strategist – is based on a similar calculator developed in the US.

“Until now, the only way to estimate the economic impact of an event was to run an expensive visitor survey and employ a researcher to analyse the data and calculate the impact,” explains Prof Snowball.

“Until now, the only way to estimate the economic impact of an event was to run an expensive visitor survey and employ a researcher to analyse the data”

“Not all events have the budget to do that, so the SAFEIC offers a reliable way of estimating economic impact at no cost to the organisation.

“While it won’t provide the same level of detail as a survey and impact study done for that specific event, it will provide a realistic estimate of what the economic impact is. An added bonus is that the results can be used in feedback to communities and sponsors.”

According to SACO CEO Richard Haines, SAFEIC will unlock “both an understanding of the impact of events and reporting that supports decision-making”.

“We are very proud of this SACO product, which we are offering free to industry practitioners and researchers,” he comments. “It’s been a great collaboration of minds and we are excited by its potential impact on the industry.”

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