The electronic music industry falls in value due to COVID-19

As we know, COVID-19 has messed up a lot of things within the music industry, especially financially. With an influx of cancelled tours, festivals and more, many industry workers are at risk of losing jobs due to the loss of income and nothing else to do. It’s a sad time, and it came at an extremely bad time as research shows that the music industry was on the rise in 2019 thanks to the new IMS Business Report for 2020.

In 2017 and 2018, both years saw a drop in value of the industry (down 2% in 2017 and 1% in 2018), but 2019 came along and created a 2% rise in the overall industry value. Rising to $7.3 billion, 2019 was a booming year and it shows that it’s where the music industry was thriving the absolute most. The growth came from recorded music, festivals and DJ earnings showing that the electronic scene was a massive part of the sudden rise, and it was only set to get even better before the effects of COVID-19 kicked in suddenly at the start of 2020.

The IMS Business Report also reported on the estimated value of the industry in 2020, and the figures look devastating. They’ve estimated that the music industry could fall by a whopping $4 billion, making it sit at $3.3 billion. It’s not surprising, considering that many venues are either closing their doors or risking permanent shut down with the lack of funds coming through from gigs, and many live music promoters facing overall stock value losses.

It’s not all bad though, as current trends should drive a strong recovery, and the industry will bounce back strongly from this loss. Streaming revenue is set to continue to grow further and online-focused companies will definitely benefit from the influx of online traffic. IMS also states that current circumstances can and will lead to some new opportunities for artists and promoters, and there’s always a silver lining. You can download the full report here.

Image Credit: Lachy Spratt on Unsplash