Hello DC Friends............
Welcome to the fastest economic shock ever recorded; I've been tracking econ-data for 40 years and I've never seen numbers like this........the 1st qtr. GDP growth is now downgraded to -3.9% (and this includes good numbers for January & February) while the 2nd qtr. estimate is now -26.8%. And of course, with the norm of social distancing, the hospitality sector is hardest hit.........including but not limited to transportation, sporting events, hotels, restaurants, and sadly, BARS & CLUBS. The recession begins now, and hopefully there is recovery at the end of the calendar year.
As we all know, some of these businesses live on the "cash-flow-edge" and will have no chance of survival during this pandemic.
My focus here is on something we all share, which is LIVE MUSIC VENUES.
Sadly, live music gig opportunities have been on the decline for many years. In my community, the biggest, best, and oldest (44 years) club in town decided to shut down about one year ago, which left a noticeable void in our gig-calendar. In our search to continue with bookings, we cannot (and will not) find the type of place to which we were accustomed...........it was our HQ for six years.
There are a few other venues locally which are gig options but I'm afraid their future is questionable.
My concern for us club-gigging musicians is that the pandemic will be another hit to the market where there may be little or no recovery.
Bands that live on the private contract circuit (corporate parties, weddings, etc.) may be the only path.........I've lived on that before too.
I wish everyone a joyous Easter weekend and I hope the outlook for your band is better than what we are facing.........discuss.
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