The economic depression will be an interesting time for the industry.
T here’s no getting away from the fact that the current state of the economy is something of a dampener on the entertainment industry in general. And rampant speculations — like things will get worse before they get better — has put at risk the much tossed around theory that, certain entertainment industries thrive in times of economic woe; a phenomenon dating back to the 1930s US depression when devastated masses flocked cinemas and venues in desperate search of respite and escape from reality, resulting in healthy business for providers of entertainment.
Unfortunately for the music industry, it has never been at the benefitting end of such trends and is more prone to succumbing to states of crisis. And it doesn’t exactly help that the music business in general is negotiating one of its most turbulent phases ever. Still, there’s a fine line between pessimism and blind optimism and, if we ever have license to wholeheartedly indulge in the latter, now is possibly the best opportunity we will ever have.
So, on that note, we can safely say that the music industry will not fall on our heads, but will continue in its search of finding a way to thrive and regain its glory. It turns out that one way to do this is to simply keep the dream alive by celebrating music through nearly irrelevant extravagances like the annual Grammy Awards, whose plush ceremony is meant to show us exactly how much fun the music business really is.
But even at the Grammy Awards, subtle indications of the effects of the economic crisis were apparent. CNN reported that successful American hip hop artists, known for their odious amounts of bling (often worth all the expensive jewellery worn by rich Indian brides), at this year’s Grammy cut more modest figures in their razor sharp suits. Then again, the lack of blinding bling might actually turn out to be one of the more evident benefits of the economic downturn.
It might be too early to actually assess how much the music business, and artistes in particular, will be affected by the global economy. Given that the recorded music business has already been on a laying-off spree across the world due to the age old problem of declining CD sales, it might be worthwhile to look at how other aspects of the music business like music concerts and festivals react to the economic slump.
Will audiences around the world still pay hefty ticket prices to see an artiste or a group of artistes at festivals? The current situation suggests that they will. Big Day Out in Australia sold out within hours last year, UK’s Glastonbury has not had a problem selling tickets and mega festivals like Bonaroo in the US are confident of successful ticket sales too.
In the near future, maybe the music business would provide the same sort of escapist pleasure that the film industry in the US did in the 1930s—or is that being too hopeful? Then again, in times like these, if you don’t have optimism, you might just end up having very little.
