EXCLUSIVE: Music Industry Touring Manager Olly Rowland Talks COVID Impact

Olly Rowland has worked within the music industry for many, many years, and has seen trends come and go and has witnessed the devasting impact the current situation is having on the live sector. Now running the Rage Touring company he understands the ins and outs of the touring business and knows first hand how the pandemic has affected the industry.

Here we chat exclusively with Olly to discuss the impact of COVID-19 further:

With your vast experience in the industry how do you see the sector moving forward beyond COVID?

I think it’s going to be slow to get up and running again, there”s not going to be many artists or management teams that are going to want to be the crash test dummies having the first shows. That being said, I definitely think it’s going to be doable, but we won’t go back to the ‘gig experience’ that everyone is used to for a number of years, if at all. Even if it’s just small changes such as temperature checks at entrances and mandatory mask-wearing, I believe those will stay in place for at least 18 months from when the first shows start back up again. I don’t see a way that promoters will be able to put on shows and make a profit with enforced social distancing, unless venue hire and artist fees are reduced per show, and artists load in with the aim for performing multiple nights in each venue, then perhaps it will be possible at a reduced capacity. I’ve seen experiments done in outside festival sites in the UK, with ‘socially distanced platforms’, however, the numbers just don’t add up with the number of people you can put in place, compared to all the same costs going into production. We will definitely have a way figured out for putting live shows back on again, and getting all of our touring artists and live crew back to work doing what they do best, it’s just going to take a bit of patience waiting for all the COVID infection and death rates to go down a bit more.

Do you feel the restrictions in place are the right ones to allow for safe shows to go ahead?

I’m not particularly happy about the hypocrisy of full airplanes, public transport, or non socially distanced protests being allowed to go ahead, and seated theatres remaining closed, that makes no sense to me. I know a lot of artists, especially in Las Vegas, that would be able to perform their show and make a profit at half capacity, allowing for social distancing within the theatre. I feel there is definitely more to be done to support the live entertainment industry, and allowing them to cautiously open up again with correct procedures in place.

With most venues unable to adhere to socially distanced gigs, what would be your advice to them moving forward in order to regain revenue?

I think there is going to have to be a mutual understanding between all parties such as venue owners, promoters, and artists, that costs are going to have to be rolled back across the board to allow live entertainment to go ahead. Venues will need to reduce the mark up on their hire fees, artists will need to reduce their fees, and promoters to a place where selling a venue to between 30% and 50% capacity is still profitable for everyone involved, but not to the scale it was previously, just for the interim, with the understanding that when we are safe and able to open up to full capacity, that original fees will resume. Secondly, in the short term, artists with a good fanbase should really be thinking about streaming live shows internationally on a pay-per-view platform such as Veeps. Venues should be able to be hired out a reduced rate compared to live shows, as no security/bartenders etc will be necessary. This allows artists to get slightly cheaper venue hire, venues can still keep busy and earn income, and fans can see a live show with all the production they’re used to. Artists can sell tickets and merch packages etc pre-show, and that at the moment makes a lot of sense to me.

Do you have any ideas on how venue managers could safely allow social distancing within small spaces?

I think that the ticket purchasing setup may need to change slightly, allowing you to book as a group, with people that you live with or believe to be safe from COVID-19 so that your group can be sat together, then the next group is 6 feet away from them. It by no means gets you close to full capacity, but it would get people back into venues and feeling safe as they only have people they know/trust next to them. On top of that, temperature readings should be taken at the door which could be managed by security so no extra expense there, queues outside should be socially distanced, masks should be mandatory, and instead of a bar that people need to walk to and bottleneck at, they should have servers wearing masks going to each group and taking drinks orders. The only bottleneck left would be at the bathrooms, which again would need clear 6ft markings laid out so there is no crowding in queues.

The music industry is probably the hardest hit right now, do you see any trends coming through that look set to change the course and make it bounce back?

The industry has been hit incredibly hard, it’s so sad to see so many crew out of work and struggling to bring in income. I know some amazing lighting and sound engineers that are doing what they have to to keep food on the table for their families, while their talents are just being wasted. I’m seeing a lot of artists taking to live streaming, and what started initially as small performances on Facebook Live with an acoustic guitar, are growing to full out productions in sound stages with full lighting rigs. This is getting crew back to work, and allowing artists to have an outlet for their music, as well as income from selling pay-per-view tickets. From what I’m seeing, and what I’m hearing from people in my network, is that we should start seeing shows opening up in the New Year, and I think by summer there will be some sort of normality coming back to live music.

What do you think the Government should be doing to help organisers put on safe shows?

I think the Government needs to help subsidize costs for shows, to allow for the 30%-50% capacity limits that will be in place. I’m also shocked at how the Government in the UK especially, has not supported the crew in the industry with suitable unemployment. There are thousands of crew that had work booked up for 2020, and all of a sudden it was gone, and they didn’t seem to have anywhere to turn to. Any system that was implemented by the Government was poor at best. Companies like Livenation stepped up and started a fund to help get some money out to those who had lost work because of COVID, but it’s not their job to have to do that. The Government needs to step up, allow shows to happen under certain restrictions, and subsidize income so at the very least everyone is able to make some sort of income until we can come out of the other side of this. I also think the Government needs to pass laws allowing venues to open, artists to perform, and promoters to sell tickets, without the risk of a lawsuit if someone claims to have caught COVID at their show. If all parties involved know their safety from that side of things, they would be a lot more willing to start experimenting with putting shows back on.

A few gigs will be going ahead this year, but these are new specialist shows designed for social distancing. Do you think any pre-booked tours have the tools for making it happen?

I’m all for being the first to do something new, but in a world where people can get ‘lawsuit-happy’, I’d be very cautious about putting on any pre-booked tours this year. I don’t doubt that some venues or shows are able to social distance when in the venue, the problem is controlling the bottlenecks which are specifically designed when these venues are built, at the entrances and exits, the bathrooms and food/drink stands. Someone is going to have to be the first to do it, but it could genuinely put an artist’s name and reputation on the line. Sure, the majority of fans are going to be cool no matter what, but there’s always some that would love to find an issue to complain about, that could and will ruin it for everyone else.

Most tour shows are already sold out so making them COVID safe now wouldn’t really be viable, do you have any advice for artists on how they can still pull something together in lieu of an actual tour?

As I’ve said previously, If an artist has already started a new record cycle just before COVID and was relying on the tour for income and promotion, then the live streaming option, country by country is a strong possibility to help promote, and still bring income. On top of that, moving dates of an actual live tour to the back end of 2021, and allowing all tickets from the original dates to be valid and/or refunded is what I would personally do.

Long term what do you think the effects of the pandemic will be on the touring sector?

The touring sector will come back for sure, and if anything, stronger than ever. People who loved live music before this pandemic will still be loving it afterward. Although streaming shows is a great option in the current climate, it certainly will never replace the experience of a real live show, nothing can replicate that feeling of being in the audience in front of an amazing singer or band, and the feeling of euphoria amongst all the fans in the same room that are all there for the same reason. We may have to get used to some changes in the short term, be it having your temperature checked, wearing a mask, or possibly even having to be seated, but we’ll bring live music back, watch this space. The artists will perform, the crew will build an amazing production, and the fans will come.

Country music, in particular, is all about the community spirit and meetups, how do you feel it will react to the new restrictions in place at gigs?

I feel that the country music community will just be glad to be able to get back to seeing their favourite artists perform. There may be some pushback on the measures that will be in place, but the majority will be happy to just be amongst their fellow country music fans again. It’s a strong community that will 100% support their artists no matter what the circumstance. It will be a sign of strength that they can come together and get through whatever is thrown in front of them without hesitation.

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