THE MUSIC THAT RESISTS - Vincenzo Spera, ASSOMUSICA: "We need an income for everyone"
THE MUSIC THAT RESISTS
No concerts and k.o. artists, Vincenzo Spera: “We need an income for everyone"
Under the blows of the coronavirus, music suffers too and with it, all it’s induced market. Concerts, events, lives in theaters and clubs, and every form of aggregations in general have been canceled, suspended or moved, some of them to a still indeterminate date. However, it is true that "music is helping us all thanks to the presence of artists who are active on social Medias to give comfort and share emotions despite the difficult moment”, says Vincenzo Spera, ELMA (European Live Music Association) and Assomusica’s president (associazione dei promotori e produttori italiani). It is equally true, though, that the whole economy around music, including the live music business, is hitting historic lows.
A long - very long - wave that moves a flow usually around 600 million a year, including all, and of which we cannot make a forecast of recovery. « If we look at the data until the end of the first measures, that for now it means until April 3, there are about 3 thousand concerts suspended: 60% rescheduled, 17% canceled, with a loss of around 40 million. If the measures will continue until May, and they quite certainly will, the total of suspended events will rise to 4,200 with a further loss of another 23 million. Total 63 million losses. Not to mention the damage if the closure will be extended for further months », continues Spera. « The supply chain is complex and diverse. To be useful, the tunnel is narrow. The stratification concerns several levels and it is urgent that the government think of supportive measures that contain the damage as soon as possible. First of all, to give guaranteed income to workers in the entire supply chain ». From Renzi to Grillo, as already happens in other European Union countries, the proposal had been advanced, but never put into practice. «Suspension of VAT payments and possibility of credit adjustment for companies that have undergone cancellations or temporal shift of concerts, blocking of loans and leasing for the purchase of locations and technologies, compensation to entertainment companies for the drop in turnover above 25%, tax exemptions and a guarantee by the government, are among the most urgent actions».
Meanwhile, for canceled concerts it is possible to request - in the sales circuit and within 30 days - the voucher for the purchase value of the ticket, which can be used by the spectator within one year for one or more concerts of the value of the voucher. What about the idea of streaming concerts? «It was already in my mind years ago - concludes Spera - But the live, in its being a relationship with the public and everything else, is not replaceable, I thought. If we would have done so, we would have now partly a salvation».
by Rita Vecchio - LEGGO Magazine
