Entertainment Executive Irving Azoff Says He Doesn't See Touring Concerts Coming Back Before Summer 2021

With most live music cancelled for the foreseeable future, and all large concert tours currently halted, one music executive is losing hope that concerts will return before next summer.

"This year's gone," Irving Azoff told Pollstar. "I personally would be very happy to get people back on the road by next summer, and if they're not on the road by next fall, that's a disaster, obviously. It's a disaster either way. I don't think we're looking at anything before next summer."

He went on to say that he is not even sure if next summer looks promising at this time. "I see nothing to convince me that a return the summer of 2021 is good."

"We're not a group of people that gives up," Azoff said of the music industry. "Certainly, in our lives, we haven't seen something like this, but history shows things will get back to normal at some point. We just have to be prepared to weather the storm until that happens."

Read the full interview on Pollstar.

This comes after Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) have introduced a potential bill to help keep music venues afloat, titled the Save Our Stages Act.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, the Save Our Stages Act would provide Small Business Administration grants for independent live music venue operators affected by COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. These grants would provide at least six months of financial support to keep venues afloat, pay employees, and preserve a critical economic sector for communities across America.

The Save Our Stages Act would do the following:

• Establish a $10 billion grant program for live venue operators, promoters, producers and talent representatives
• Direct the Small Business Administrator to make grants to eligible recipients equal to the lesser of either 45% of gross revenue from 2019 or $12 million
• Allowsthe Small Business Administrator to issue supplemental grants in the future if funding remains available and applicants can demonstrate continued need
• Permit recipients to use grants for costs incurred during the COVID pandemic
• Permit recipients to use grants for rent, utilities, mortgage obligations, PPE procurement, payments to contractors, regular maintenance, administrative costs, taxes, operating leases, and capital expenditures related to meeting state, local, or federal social distancing guidelines

Read the original story on BroadwayWorld.

To post a comment, you must register and login.