COVID-19 is having a devastating effect on music. And it won’t end for a while.
[This was my column for GlobalNews.ca. – AC]
[Note: This article has been updated to reflect the cancellation of the SOCAN Awards which was announced Friday afternoon.]
If things had gone according to plan, I’d have been in Singapore this week visiting my goddaughter on the occasion of her second birthday. It’s not that I’m all that worried about coming down with a case of COVID-19, but there’s always the chance of getting caught in some kind of extended quarantine because of one sick passenger or fellow hotel guest. The kid will have to wait for her present.
Two other trips have been either killed off or postponed: a music trip to Manchester and Liverpool, England, and another to Gdansk, Poland, where I was supposed to speak at a music conference. A few other music-related trips to Los Angeles, New York, and London are also in limbo, all because of the coronavirus pandemic.
There have been dozens of cancellations and postponements in the music world, not just out of an abundance of caution, but because everyone is afraid of being sued. No event wants to become another epicentre of the virus and thus open to legal action.
[Read more here.]