Covid-19 has been a difficult time for everyone and caused a lot of people to lose their jobs, included in that are musicians. Due to social distancing and other measures to limit the spread of Covid-19, almost all in person concerts have been cancelled because it would require too many people to be in the same place at the same time. Because of this musicians have had to come up with more creative solutions to continue making money and keeping the public interested when restrictions are loosened and people are able to go see concerts in person once again.

Some possible solutions include streaming concerts. This keeps people interested because they are still able to experience the music from the comfort of their homes. Musicians can make money doing this by either requiring people to pay to view the live stream, as they would have to pay for tickets to attend an in person concert. Musicians could also have an option to donate attached to the live stream so people can donate as they watch to keep their favourite music groups up and running through these trying times. Donating is always a good option because people are usually willing to support groups they enjoying or think that it is beneficial to keep around, and having donations open over requiring them to pay for a live stream because there is less of a feeling of obligation to pay.

Another great way for musicians to stay afloat during this pandemic is to make merchandise available, they could sell t-shirts, hoodies, bags, CDs, DVDs, etc. Merchandise is a great way to keep people interested while making money. Merchandise is easy for people to buy, especially while approaching the holidays. People always enjoy getting merchandise for groups that they enjoy, and most people would appreciate receiving a CD of a group that they’ve never really looked into as long as it comes from a loved one or close friend who in sharing a music group that they enjoy.

Overall I think that merchandise is an easier and more effective way of musicians making money in these times because it’s easier for people to buy online when they will be receiving a physical item rather than paying to watch a performance when there are so many free recordings to watch online. But I think the most effective way would be to combine the two methods if possible and use the streams to advertise the merchandise and vise versa.