Well, this is not what music fans want to hear.
Marc Geiger, the longtime global head of music at the WME agency and a co-founder of Lollapalooza, said this week that big live music events are not likely to be back next year.
A number of major festivals were cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a promise to return in 2021. Many artists have also announced rescheduled tour dates for next year.
Appearing on The Bob Lefsetz Podcast, Geiger was asked when he thinks festivals and concerts will be back to normal. “In my humble opinion, it’s going to be 2022.”
Geiger said there are “probably 20” obstacles promoters of concerts and festivals have to overcome, including “spacing and density” protocols and “infinite liability” issues with insurance companies.
“It’s going to take that long before, what I call, the germaphobic economy is slowly killed off and replaced by the claustrophobia economy – that’s when people want to get out and go out to dinner and have their lives, go to festivals and shows,” he said.
“It’s my instinct, that’s going to take a while because super-spreader events – sports, shows, festivals…aren’t going to do too well when the virus is this present.”
Geiger warned that “the next six months may be more painful than the last six months, and maybe the next six months after that are even more so.”