Coronavirus
Music Companies Delay Return to Office, Mandating Vaccines
Moore adds that the highly-global nature of the Spotify workforce — the company boasts 50 offices across 25 countries — made instituting a blanket vaccine mandate even more challenging. “In some countries, in some regions, it would actually be illegal to do so,” says Moore, “and so we’re just sort of taking the stance that people will make good decisions.” Notably, local ordinances in major urban centers could force companies’ hands. Earlier this month, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that a proof of vaccination will be required to enter indoor restaurants, gyms and performance venues in the city starting on Aug. 16 — though the order does not yet apply to offices. Last Tuesday, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to look...
AEG to Require Proof of Full Vaccination to Attend Concerts
AEG Presents, the second-largest live events promoter, will require proof of full COVID-19 vaccination for concertgoers and event staff upon entry at all of their upcoming venues and shows. AEG will not accept just a negative COVID test to get in. In a statement posted on their website, AEG said that the decision stemmed from the “dramatic surge in Covid-19 cases as the Delta variant spreads throughout the United States.” “We have come to the conclusion that, as a market leader, it was up to us to take a real stand on vaccination status,” Jay Marciano, COO of AEG and Chairman and CEO of AEG Presents, said in a statement. “Just a few weeks ago, we were optimistic about where our business, and country, were heading. The Delta variant, combined with vaccine hesitancy, is pushing us in the wro...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: Delta ‘Just the Beginning’ If Vaccinations Don’t Improve
How was Record Store Day? Much, much better than June. That wouldn’t take a whole lot, but it went smoothly. There were very few hiccups. There were a couple of titles from June that were bumped to July that the distributor missed, but I caught that early enough thanks to some of my coalition friends who I quickly asked, “Do have these titles?” And they all resoundingly answered yes, and so I realized I had a problem and they were able to fix it. So that was good. And compared to June, it was a minor blip. It sounds like everything went really well. Were you able to do sort of the full enchilada, in the sense of offering all the fun stuff for people waiting in line? For both the June and July date we poured beer and we had either doughnuts or bacon outside, so that was de...
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2021 Canceled Over COVID-19 Safety Concerns
This year’s Jazz Fest, which annually celebrates the culture and heritage of New Orleans and Louisiana alongside performances by national and international artists, boasted a lineup including Foo Fighters, Lizzo, Demi Lovato, H.E.R. and Brandi Carlile, among many others. This isn’t the first time Jazz Fest has been impacted by COVID-19. The 2020 edition of the festival — which traditionally takes place at the end of April and early May for eight days — was also canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. “We now look forward to next spring, when we will present the festival during its traditional timeframe,” organizers said on Sunday, adding that next year’s dates are scheduled for April 29-May 8. Ticketholders for both 2021 festival weekends will receive an email...
Can Festivals Really Come Back? What’s Next After Lollapalooza
Since it became clear that Lollapalooza would be the first major multigenre U.S. festival since the start of the pandemic, promoters hoped it would kick off a shortened but vital festival season, with Bonnaroo, Governors Ball and Firefly scheduled to follow in September. But circumstances have changed as another wave of COVID-19 cases spreads — along with fears that festivals could become super-spreader events. In Chicago, one source tells Billboard that, as Lollapalooza approached, promoters grew nervous that public health officials would impose limits on the event’s capacity. Live Nation and rival AEG have already worked out a compromise with the major talent agencies in case other festivals are forced to cancel. If that happens 30 to 60 days before the event, the promoter only has to pa...
My First Fest Back: Lollapalooza Founder Perry Farrell on ‘The Eye of the Hurricane’
I think that this moment in time is extremely important in history as the country is coming back, getting through a pandemic. We’re right on the other side of it, [but] we’re still in it and it might be another year before we’re fully away from it. It depends on our actions. And I think there was a great divide that was caused by that last president, and other people around the world, and we’re all recovering from that but we’re gaining our strength and we are mighty — and we’re going to pull this off. We’re in a very tough situation, but I love the fact that we’re actually in the eye of the hurricane and we did the right thing — and when I say we, I don’t just mean Lollapalooza. I mean the mayor, I mean the city of Chicago. We all figured it out together, “Hey, we can use this...
Delta Variant May Spread Easily As Chickenpox According To CDC Document
HipHopWired Featured Video Source: RgStudio / Getty As the United States and the rest of the world continue to combat the spread of the coronavirus at varying levels, a document from the CDC presents a grim warning that public health experts seemingly knew to expect. According to an internal US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention document, the Delta variant of the coronavirus may be transmitted as easily as chickenpox with the added dangers that it might be a deadlier infection. The Washington Post broke the news of the CDC’s internal document on Thursday (July 29), and the paper reportedly points to evidence that the Delta variant’s potential to be spread in a fashion not dissimilar to the childhood disease chickenpox is high. This document is said to be the agency’s spark for its ...
Manchester City legend Kun Aguero to play backup role at Barcelona
Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero will play a backup role at Barcelona next term. The striker spent 11 trophy-laden years in Manchester, winning the Premier League five times and the FA Cup once. He is fourth in the all-time Premier League goalscoring charts with 184 strikes in 275 appearances. The ‘perfect’ combined England and Italy Euro 2020 XI Despite his incredible record, Barca have warned Aguero that he could spend a significant amount of time on the bench next season. That’s according to Spanish outlet AS (via Daily Mail), who claim that the Argentinian has already accepted the role. Barca are worried about Aguero’s fitness after he was limited to 12 top flight appearances in 2020/21. He suffered with a knee injury at the start of the campaign, a hamstring problem in November an...
Nigeria records 186 new coronavirus cases
The Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC) has registered 186 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) infections from three states. The NCDC said this on its official website on Saturday morning. Newsmen report that the figure represents an increase from the 146 cases recorded on Thursday and 110 cases posted on Wednesday. It said 186 additional cases were reported from three states as of July 9. The agency noted that Lagos had the highest number of cases, which was 175, while Rivers recorded eight and Gombe had three cases. According to NCDC, compilation of the newly infected cases showed that the country now has a total of 168,442 confirmed cases. The NCDC highlighted that the total of discharged cases stood at 164,323. The agency said it also discharged eight more people from isolation ...
Inside Track: How the Music Business Is Preparing to Return to the Office
Katovsky explains that BMG tested its return-to-work plan at its offices in Sydney, Australia, where COVID infection rates were low until recently. After surveying its global staff, Katovsky says that moving forward, the majority of BMG’s employees will be permitted to work from home two days per week. “We’re eager and excited to get back into the office, but we’re also pragmatic about that, and accept that we’ll have to make changes along the way,” he says. Meanwhile, a source says Sony Music has told its employees that, moving forward, the company plans to support more flexibility regarding working from home, and Triple 8 Management founder George Couri says the company’s employees, who are based in Nashville and Austin, Texas will have the option to work at home for part of the week. “A...
German football gets green light for fan return next season
Bundesliga clubs and other German sports venues will be allowed to welcome up to 25,000 spectators from next month, the city of Berlin said on Tuesday after a meeting of officials from Germany’s 16 states. Most matches in Germany’s top football league were played behind closed doors last season because of the Covid-19 virus. The new Bundesliga season starts on August 13 and with infection rates having fallen sharply, sports stadiums could be at 50 percent capacity, with the total number per match or event capped at 25,000. The only exception is reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, where up to 20,000 fans will be allowed into home games at the 75,000-capacity Allianz Arena because officials in Bavaria are allowing only 35 percent of capacity. The new rules apply until September 11 a...
Morrissey Describes Pandemic as “Con-vid”, Likens Government Restrictions to Slavery
Morrissey’s big mouth has struck again: In a new interview conducted by his nephew Sam Esty Rayner, the outspoken singer referred to the pandemic as “Con-vid” and compared government-imposed restrictions as akin to slavery. His comments came as part of a lengthy interview designed to promote his upcoming album, Bonfire of Teenagers. But Morrissey and Rayner dedicated much of the interview to lamenting about the state of Britain during the pandemic. “The bigger problem is that nobody can any longer agree with anyone else, and this is the main outcome of Con-vid,” Morrissey commented. “It has brought the worst out in people, and we weren’t ever in this together. We are deprived of seeing and hearing other people, and above all, you want to be with others who see and hear what you see and hea...
