When you ask someone about music and Coronavirus, they might recall awkward celebrity covers of ‘Imagine’, or trendy TikTok audios like ‘Say So’. But the true effects of an isolating quarantine on a medium centred around connecting people are constantly overlooked.
Superstar Beyoncé called the pandemic the ‘most creative’ time of her life on her official website, and it’s easy to see why. Artists are typically encouraged to focus where the money is – touring. Churning out radio-friendly commercial hits is a quick and easy way to make you and your label a lot of money. So what happens when a global quarantine is enforced, and nobody can leave their house? Experimentation. Many artists started ‘genre-bending’, with Beyoncé’s post-COVID album Renaissance mixing elements of disco, house, funk and R&B.
For many artists, music also became more intimate during the pandemic due to increased solo work. These raw lyrics allowed fans to feel more emotionally connected to the singers. For example, Taylor Swift’s 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore were popular due to their themes of nostalgia and escapism, with lyrics like “You drew stars around my scars, but now I’m bleeding”.
The biggest driver of change was the inability to tour, with even major festivals like Glastonbury and Coachella being postponed. Once touring resumed, concert culture changed drastically. Fans’ eagerness to return to live music has pushed ticket prices sky-high, with the BBC reporting a 19% increase from 2020 to 2023.
Recently, Harry Styles’ ‘Together, Together’ tour has faced controversy over high prices, with outlets reporting that some VIP London tickets are as high as £725. Many gig-goers have also noted a lack of concert etiquette from inexperienced attendees. Disruptive behaviour has included throwing items on stage, resulting in singer Bebe Rexha receiving a black eye in 2023.
COVID has undeniably shifted the ways we experience music, but whether these changes are for the better or worse is really a matter of perspective. The isolated period pushed artists into creative experimentation, but many fans are now having to navigate eye-watering ticket prices and chaotic concerts.
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