“Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.”
Confucius
Have you ever wondered why we eat popcorn at the movies? During the Great Depression, the movie theater industry was about to collapse, and to attract customers, they introduced popcorn. The smell of salt and butter when you enter a cinema today was an outcome of immense crises.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reached new heights nobody ever imagined. Record labels, booking agencies, road crews, studios, venues and other components of the music industry are being profoundly affected. It upsets fans, that events have been cancelled, but artists are undergoing the greatest adversity: No interaction with their supporters.
Some heavily depend on the physical sale of their music, say CD’s, and are hit hard. They must switch to streaming services to get through this. Merchandise sales are down for everybody. Studio sessions and video shoots must be postponed. The livelihoods of many segments of the music business are at risk. Now, what does this have to do with popcorn?
Out of this total catastrophe, the positive effect is that more quality music is being created. Artists, stuck at home, have more time to engage in their art and are constantly producing. Entire albums are being written in record time periods. Many believe that they have finally got the time to concentrate and fixate on their music, realize certain thoughts and come up with new styles. Previews, rap battles and dances are flooding Instagram, through which new personas are being discovered.
The simple reason the music business will survive is because of its value. Music is one of the most powerful forces out there. In Italy, people are standing in their balconies and singing songs. It helps them remain positive and happy. A simple melody can take you back to your childhood and release so many emotions. We will continue supporting this industry as long as possible because it is a daily element for most people. Just imagine for a second how our lives would be if music did not exist. This very thought elaborates the importance of it.
As the pandemic will come to an end, there will be fresh developments in the music industry; novel ideas, improved systems, adjusted concepts, which might even unveil the next popcorn.
