Fans OK with COVID certification - #ReviveLive study
- Details
75% of those surveyed have said they would be happy with the idea of COVID certification, and over 50% have said they are ready to attend music events right now, with a further 25% stating they would attend once the right mitigations are in place.
This is welcome news for the live events sector, which is currently in talks with the UK government over the type of access control measures that should be put in place to allow events to resume in the summer.
The #ReviveLive survey was released by LIVE (Live music Industry, Venues and Entertainment), a federation of live music industry associations representing 3,150 businesses, over 4,000 artists and 2,000 backstage workers. Members include Association of Festival Organisers, the Music Venue Trust, National Arenas Association, Concert Promoters Association, and more.
In further encouraging news, 85% of those surveyed have said they are planning on attending either the same or higher numbers of live music events compared to the period before the pandemic, with 55% having already bought tickets to events taking place in the coming months.
The survey also revealed strong appetite for the market of virtual music events, which flourished in the past year, with one in four stating they would still want to engage with online events even after the resumption of live concerts.
Chris Carey, chief economist of LIVE who led the research, comments: “It’s great that the passion of live music fans has endured the pandemic, and after a long wait fans want to go to more shows than ever. It is especially encouraging to see how quickly fans want to get back to live.”
Greg Parmley, CEO of LIVE, adds: “After a devastating year for the live music industry it is fantastic to see the strength of feeling from fans across the UK who are desperate to get back to live music events. The industry has worked tirelessly to ensure that we can return as quickly and safely as possible. It is notable that fans are willing to live with short-term mitigation measures in order to get back to live music as quickly as possible, with three quarters saying that they would be happy with a Covid-certification system as part of those measures.”
Last weekend saw the return of the first non-socially distanced gigs with the series of government pilot events in the Events Research Programme. The events, which took place in Liverpool, included a 5,000-person outdoor gig and a 3,000-person nightclub event. LIVE hopes that findings from the trials will “hopefully provide the evidence base needed to return full capacity live music events safely this summer.”
Read the survey report here (PDF).
