01/06/2021
An interesting read about something affecting the majority of people in our industry
An open letter: to anyone who wants to read it.
WARNING: this is not the cheery, optimistic Jules you are used to but I am going to be brave, vulnerable and try to get this down on paper.
The forgotten industry.
This weekend has been rough, for many reasons but it’s 3am and I can’t sleep so I am going to write this down and speak my truth into the world to see if anyone has any ideas or thoughts they would like to share - my mother always said ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ so let’s see if anyone is listening.
Recently I have been struggling. Not the kind of struggling that you put down to a bad day or a fight with a friend, but the very deep kind that makes you question everything about your life.
I am a musician and I have dedicated my life to writing songs and performing them live - to see people happy, dancing and connected through music has been my sole purpose and it has been almost all of what I know. Until the end of 2019 myself and my band (GoodLuck) was one of the busiest touring acts in South Africa. We performed around 130 shows a year, threw our own events and festivals and although touring came with its challenges, we were, for the most part, thriving.
Then the pandemic hit and it all stopped. Pretty much overnight we received floods of emails cancelling tours, shows, corporate events…. Everything. Our last, proper gig was in March 2020 and with no end in sight, we filled the time (thinking we could be in this for at least a few months) doing what we could to serve our communities, help those in need and use our voices where we could for good.
I had no idea that I would be here, almost 18 months later wondering how much longer this can go on for.
Now I know there have been a lot of industries that have been adversely impacted by COVID, and we are not the only ones in this boat, but only a handful of industries have been prohibited from working to the same extent as the Music and Live Events Industry.
I know from talking to promoters that the small events, which have been allowed to take place, have been difficult to plan and promote. Covering the costs with such limited numbers, coupled with additional costs that have come with COVID-19 and the health and safety protocols have made it impossible to organise a live event.
Then as an artist, when you do agree to take on a performance at a smaller event you are also cutting your fee down to about a quarter of what it used to be to make it manageable for the promoter to book you. Is it worth it? Can you imagine the amount of stress that has come from performing or working at any event (no matter how ‘legal’ or COVID-complaint) in the last year? I can tell you…. It's like you're dancing on this fine line, needing to work to keep yourself and your team afloat and knowing that at any given moment someone with a cellphone, the right (or wrong) camera angle, and maybe even a slightly nefarious intention can post a picture that can cut you down within seconds... and they do. Everything you have known about bringing people joy, connecting people, giving them a respite in life doesn't matter anymore and anything you say, can and will be held against you. So don’t fight back or try to explain it as it will fall on deaf ears.
Please don’t get me wrong, I have learnt some big lessons and I have done a bucket load of self examination in everything we have been through, but there is one question I still can’t answer: “What do you want us to do?” Should we quit? I can tell you that this is quickly becoming the only reality for most artists, events companies, and technical companies.
Nationally, there has been no, and when I say “no” I mean almost zero support for our industry. We have been prevented from working for almost 18 months, and our government and the private sector have not provided any form of significant support or even so much as a timeline or game plan for the recovery of our sector. The R300 Million that was earmarked as relief funding for arts and entertainment was “lost” and even that would have been a drop in the ocean if it had been distributed. We are the forgotten industry.
I shudder as I see good technical companies closing (every day), I see our best people emigrating to other countries (we have recently lost our booking agent of 10 years to Dubai because her husband, who worked in events could not get any employment for over 8 months). I hear stories of people who have long thrown the towel in and some who have tragically taken their own lives because the financial stress became too much to bear.
Personally, I don’t want to even think about having to focus on anything else as music is my life but it is getting to that point for us where we too have to see if there are some other ways we can earn a living. We can’t keep going on like this indefinitely. Something has to change.
So what is the solution? Is there one? I know that pandemics and live events don’t exactly go hand in hand but at what point are we given just a small respite? I can tell you that we are going to be having to look at our business and make some decisions over the next few months but I sincerely hope they don’t have to take us too far away from our music.
What can you do to help? If you aren’t in a position to single handedly rescue an entire industry (which most of us aren't), then just be conscious. If you have a friend who works in the live events or music industry, phone them to check how they are doing. When an artist announces a streaming concert, BUY A TICKET and when you aren't watching their show just put their music on spotify on repeat (life-hack, you can turn the volume down). And when events do eventually happen again, do NOT ask to be put on the ‘guestlist’ - that is going to become a swear word.
Sorry guys, I know this letter doesn't smell of roses but it's real, it's honest and it is how I am feeling. Scared, overwhelmed, exhausted and today in particular I am feeling sad.
I really hope someone is listening.
