According to a World Economic Forum report in May 2020, the USD 50bn music industry was hit hard by the pandemic with live performance revenue being the biggest casualty.  The report (with PwC) estimates that live music which earns half of the total revenue would lose an estimated $10bn with a six-month lockdown.

MIDiA Research predicts that while the global music industry would decline by 30 percent (mid-case scenario) in 2020, live music events would see a drop in revenue of 75 percent.  

The Indian live events industry, music included, is no exception. To help those affected professionally by the pandemic, Spectal Management, a New Delhi-based talent and brand agency, has announced a fundraising initiative ‘Together For Tomorrow’ (TFT).

TFT will raise funds for non-salaried skilled and unskilled freelancers in the live events sector. This initiative has been launched in partnership with Universal Music-backed non-film platform VYRL Originals and new media enterprise OML.

The funds raised through TFT will be collected and disbursed through Anahad Foundation that works towards preserving and empowering folk music and musicians across India. 

TFT grants will cover individuals who are not salaried and whose sole means of livelihood were the events and performance industry. Over two phases, the campaign hopes to cover up to 200 applicants.
 

A panel of industry stakeholders will vet the applicants and oversee funds disbursement. Panelists for TFT include industry stalwarts like sound engineer Fali Damania, Mixtape founder Naveen Deshpande, SNL Pro founder Manish Mavani and OML’s Supreet Kaur, Kalidas Shenoy and Dharam Saraviya.
 

 

Unlike in the West, where the creative arts sector has received funds and grants from government agencies, the events industry in India has received little help so far. The Events and Entertainment Management Association (EEMA) has also appealed to the Government of India to intervene with measures to support the lives of the 60 million Indians the event industry employs directly and indirectly.  

Unnoticed by many, the support staff and technical crew are the backbone of a live event. A typical mega-festival or live event employs anywhere from 900 to 1,200 support staff including vendors, whereas for a club show that figure could be as low as 30.  
 

TFT spokespersons Himanshu Chowdhary, Fali Damania, and Manish Mavani said in a statement, “The live events and entertainment domain was one of the first ones to shut business and will probably be the last to reopen since these hinge on mass gatherings. The target group has been without any concrete work for close to four months now, and the situation is likely to prevail for the next six to nine months at least. We fear due to lack of concrete support, this skilled manpower may look for alternative means of survival in other sectors which may lead to the collapse of this sector.”
 

"'Together For Tomorrow’ is the only cause that hopes to cater to the freelancers/daily wagers of the workers of the live entertainment industry. We are looking to support the backbone of the events industry without whom none of these live events would be possible,” they added.
 

As per EEMA, the adverse impact of this crisis on the events and the experiential industry is expected to last for months. The events and activations industry in India which was expected to cross Rs 10,000 crore mark by 2020-'21, as per an EY-EEMA report, may not be able to meet its target.