COVID-19 has been affecting different industries around the world. That is no different for the music streaming service industry. Throughout time, music has been there for the people. A distraction. Something to keep people going through the tough times. In our current situation, this is the same concept; there will be tough times that lie ahead. Music has been so helpful to me personally, and I know that many people feel the same way. Different music streamers have different numbers.
Crisis such as the Vietnam War, AIDS/HIV crisis, and 9/11 are all related by song. Somebody wrote their displeasure about what was going on.
I will start with the Vietnam War, when the Kent State Shootings happened, a song called “Ohio” written by Neil Young for the band Crosby, Stills & Nash. The song is a protest song and counterculture anthem. The song peaked at number 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 16 in Canada. The song can be heard here. Bruce Springsteen wrote a song in the 1990’s called Streets of Philadelphia. It was used for a movie Jonathan Demme's 1993 film Philadelphia. Critics called it “one of the best movie songs of the 90’s”. When the song was released it peaked at number 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Two months after the 9/11 attacks in America, Alan Jackson released "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" at the CMA Awards on November 7, 2001. It received multiple Grammy nominations and won Best Song of the Year. Two weeks ago, Twenty One Pilots released their new single “Level of Concern,” which was written and recor
ded during the pandemic of COVID-19 and talks about how strange of time we live in right now. Lyrics like, “Wonderin' would you be my little quarantine?” or “Panic on the brain, Michael's gone insane // Julie starts to make me nervous // I don't really care what they would say // I'm asking you to stay in my bunker underneath the surface”. Tyler Joseph, lead singer of the band made it known that he wants this to be his continued support for the people who have tough times ahead.
Now there are plenty of bands and artists who are not releasing their albums and new music because of the pandemic. Artists like Luke Bryan, Lady Gaga, and Alicia Keys have all come out and released statements on their social media platforms stating they are putting off their release dates until after the pandemic has slowed down(or stopped). “It just doesn't feel right to me to release this album with all that is going on during this global pandemic," Lady Gaga wrote. "Instead I prefer that we spend this time focusing on finding solutions," including getting "essential medical equipment to healthcare professionals" and assisting kids and adults impacted by the pandemic. Gaga was one of the first to come out and say she is putting a halt on her music, many artists have followed her direction and stopped as well.
Lots of
artists are also live streaming “concerts in their homes” via Youtube, Instagram, and other platforms. Artists like Brett Young, Alice Cooper, Willie Nelson, Bastille, Diplo, David Guetta, Pharrell Williams, Sam Smith, Shawn Mendes, Taylor Swift, Usher, Victoria Beckham, Andrea Bocelli, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Chris Martin, Charlie Puth and Gabby Barrett are all streaming free concerts in their homes.
In a series of
I have conducted I asked participants to state do they use streaming services Apple Music, Spotify, Youtube Music, or Pandora. Nobody uses Youtube Music or Pandora. 64% of participants use Spotify. The other 36% uses Apple Music. I then asked if they are streaming more or less when after quarantine started. 57% of the participants are streaming more because of the quarantine in place.
Earlier this month, Quartz reported that the top 200 Spotify singles were seeing sharp declines in countries most affected by COVID-19 outbreaks. Along with album sales hitting a record low, Rolling Stone’s data provider noticed dips across all services, including programmed streamers like Pandora. In addition to countless losses in touring revenue, artists and labels also have to contend with a decline in overall music consumption.
Spotify streaming between the weeks of 2/28/20 and 3/22/20 were down 14%. Factors going into this could be, not driving into work everyday for US adults, or not going to the gym in any US citizen. Not as many people were not listening to music through their phones or computers during that 3 week span.
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