COVID-19 has been pretty devastating for the live music scene all over the world with the cancellations of gigs, tours and festivals. This has meant many bands, artists, venues, drivers, tour managers, promoters, sound people and probably a whole host of other folk have lost their main source of income. It's a terrible situation and a lot of great people are going to be struggling. As with any time of struggle, the DIY punk community usually shows what exceptional people they are by finding ways to support their comrades in need. I've put together ten suggestions for helping to support the bands, labels and venues that have really been affected by the pandemic.
Buy Their Music And Merch
This is painstakingly obvious but the best way of helping out the bands you love is by buying their music and merchandise. You don't have to do this at shows – bands have online shops, usually on their Bandcamp pages or on Big Cartel. If you stream a band a lot, why not buy a download from them? They make much much more money this way.
Share Your Favourite Bands On Your Social Media
Another pretty obvious one and the title explains it all. Share your favourite bands on your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Let your followers know what you're enjoying, maybe they'll check the bands out and enjoy them as well.
Watch Live Streams And Donate
What I think is the best thing to come from COVID-19 is the amount of bands who have taken to the Internet to perform live streams shows. It's been a great way to see some form of live music as well as saying hi to friends from all over the world. It's a great way to stay connected to the scene that you love. Most live streams are also requesting people to make donations during the stream, be it to help them out or to donate to a charity. At the moment, it seems as if there's a live stream happening every night – it's a great way to spend an evening indoors.
Let Promoters And Venues Keep Your Refunds
When Manchester Punk Festival had to cancel a couple of weeks ago, it was absolutely wonderful to see the amount of people who messaged the festival to say that they were happy for them to keep their money. I've been doing this for every festival or gig that's been cancelled. The way I see it, if I could afford the ticket in the first place and I can afford to go without the money now, it can go towards supporting something that I love. I appreciate there are a lot of people who have been put in financial bother who could probably do with any refunds they've got coming to them but, if that's not you, please think about letting the promoters/venues hang on to your money to help these events continue after the pandemic has ended.
Check In On Your Friends Who Have Been Affected
This is a way of helping bands without spending any money. It's simple but I think it's such an important thing to do. If you've got any friends who play in bands, or work for venues, or run labels, send them a message and check in on them. Let's be honest, we're all struggling mentally at the moment but these people have had their big passion taken away from them and will be having moments of feeling low. Having people to talk to will go a long way in supporting them mentally which can be just as valuable as supporting them financially.
Buy Things From Online Record Shops
Another self explanatory one. Obviously you can't go into a record shop at the moment but there are still plenty of online record shops around who would love your custom. Go buy a record or two whilst the postal service is still operating. Who knows when they might be forced to stop.
Buy Gift Vouchers For Venues And Labels
Many online shops have gift vouchers you can buy other people for presents. This is a great way to support them. I've also seen that venues such as The Exchange in Bristol and Rad Apples in Dundee, the new vegan restaurant above Conroy's Basement (home of Make-That-A-Take Records), are offering vouchers that you can buy now and redeem later. I think this is a brilliant idea. It supports these places now and gives you something to look forward to in the future.
Spend The Extra Time You Have Now Discovering New Bands
You've probably got plenty of spare time on your hands at the moment. Why not spend some of it looking for new bands to support? Fall in love with a new band and get excited about having the opportunity to see them in the future. The Bandcamp discovery page is the very best tool for finding new bands, especially when you can't go to gigs – why not use it and find your new favourite? Then go buy all their stuff.
Start A Project To Help Raise Money To Support Those In Need
When all this began and the impact that it was going to have on so many of my friends involved in the music "industry" became clear, my first thought was how can I help. Having a project to focus my mind on not only helps distract me from everything that's going on and gives me something positive to work on, but it will also hopefully help those who need it. I'm putting together a massive comp (to be released on April 24th through CPRW Records) to raise some money for Music Venue Trust. Perhaps you could do something to raise some money to help the bands and venues you care about. I'm sure all help no matter how big or small will be greatly appreciated.
When This Is Over Make Sure You Go To Gigs
Are you one of those people who often say they will attend a DIY gig and then don't go? When the COVID-19 pandemic is finished and we can go do the things we love again, make sure you get out and support the bands and venues that you're a fan of. It's very easy to take this wonderful scene we're lucky enough to have for granted. Things like COVID-19 have proven that these things can easily be taken away from us so it's important to go out and support the scene. The venues are also going to need some big turnouts over the first couple of months they're allowed to re-open again to try and make back some of the money they've lost during this disaster. Big bar sales will help that. Plus, won't it be lovely to see all your friends again? Personally, I can't wait for the big NXI party at the end of this.
Thanks for reading this. Stay safe, stay indoors.
This top ten was written by Colin Clark.
No comments:
Post a Comment