Issue 111 / November 2022

PLAYING IN
In this third report, detailing the findings of our musicians’ survey carried out in partnership with the
University of Liverpool, we look at responses relating to releasing music and self-promotion during the
months of lockdown. The findings illustrate a desire within artists to keep releasing music and retain
visibility despite challenging circumstances, yet the ability to retain profile proved difficult with the greater
emphasis on social media.
The ensuing Covid-19 pandemic has seen venues
close and changed the music industry as we know it.
When the situation took hold in March, musicians were
somewhat forced to take stock and evaluate their next
steps moving forward.
Was releasing new music a good idea when the opportunity
of playing it live and testing the reaction was not possible? With
everyone stuck at home, was lockdown a good opportunity to
work on developing a greater online fanbase? The first lockdown
came as a key crossroad for how some musicians operated dayto-day.
Of the 175 respondents that took part in our survey, 39 per
cent changed plans to release recorded music due to the impact
of Covid-19. Of those that decided to change their plans, 73 per
cent delayed their releases, put their release schedule on hold or
cancelled their plans entirely.
Out of the respondents that continued with plans, 52 per
cent released a single, 28 per cent released a full album and
31 per cent continued with an independent physical release.
Additionally, 40 per cent of artists that responded had no
intentions of releasing recorded music.
For some, the hours of work that went into the studio
production for releases – the nights toiling over the writing of
songs, the days spent in practice spaces and the collaborative
efforts from artists, managers and the press to help promote the
release – all had to be put on hold as artists felt the climate was
not conducive to releasing new music.
The great uncertainty of what was to come in the following
months was enough for some artists to delay releases until more
sustainable times. One respondent said: “We put all plans on
hold until we had an idea of how long this was going to last and
what changes there would be.”
Another common reason was the lack of practice spaces, live
16
shows and recording opportunities to develop new tracks before
releasing, as potential changes were unable to be resolved
without band members being in the same room. “A series of
singles were to be recorded over
the last few months with the
band, but this hasn’t happened
as we wanted to all be physically
present when recording. We
may have to abandon these
plans altogether and do things
differently,” one respondent said,
with another adding: “With no
live shows to promote the songs
we thought it would be best to
delay the releases indefinitely.”
The problems weren’t only
limited to independent artists.
Acts signed to labels faced similar
problems as three respondents
with label support also delayed
the release of an album, with one
changing it from early summer
2020 all the way to 2021. Others
described the impact as “playing the waiting game”, “a damned
shame” and a “total headache”.
However, lockdown still proved an opportunity for some to
weather the storm and keep going with intended plans. 21 per
cent went ahead with their intended release schedules with 16
per cent of respondents starting new PR campaigns.
Although the inability to perform on a stage was damaging
to some, others, as we saw in our last article, took to online
streaming gigs as a means to continue the promotion of their
music. Innovative use of online social media, more time to focus
“I didn’t feel like
it was suitable to
promote myself when
people were dying”
on music and the continued release of material allowed the
momentum to keep going and for artists to have the ability to
put their music in front of fans who were also stuck at home.
Of those that continued
releasing, 38 per cent cited
momentum as a key reason as
they didn’t want all the hard work
they did before to go to waste.
For some independent artists
who don’t follow the stricter setups
of label release schedules,
lockdown proved to be a time
to test out new ideas and to see
what worked. Halting operations
completely could do more harm
than good for an artist just
starting out. “Why not?” said one
respondent. “We finished two
pieces of music we were really
happy with and we’re still kind of
starting out, there was no reason
not to continue, really.”
“There had been a lot of
planning and money put into the release of the album. We
wanted to also avoid the potential backlog of everybody else
pushing back their releases until the end of the year,” another
added.
Wirral art-rock trio SPQR are one band who have remained
active over lockdown, pressing on with putting out an EP, a 7”
and uploading a collection of early tracks on streaming services
via their own label Nuthin Gud Records. Lockdown gave the
group a break from touring to focus on recording new material
which proved positive for their artistic motivation. “Having that
time to write and record has given me confidence,” said the
band’s Peter Harrison. “I’ve never felt I’ve written anything this
good as I’ve never had this much time [to put towards music].”
Although the negatives and frustrations of not being able to
perform live were present, Harrison saw a positive side moving
forward. “Lockdown is just another setback that we have to get
over,” he added. “We’ve had to go through a lot to get to where
we are and this is just another challenge.”
Before lockdown, social media was a key aspect of artist
development as it provided an opportunity for them to connect
with fans outside of a live music setting. Not all artists opted
to utilise the platforms to their full potential. However,
as lockdown removed the opportunities of physical
interaction, social media became the only way for artists
to connect with fans.
Across our respondents an average of 40 per cent
saw a growth in their social media interactions during
lockdown, yet 19 per cent saw a decline.
Looking deeper into the data displays some more
interesting results: 31 per cent recognised they had
actively engaged more on the platforms by adding
more content, with 14 per cent showing a specific
boost after live streaming activities. Additionally,
19 per cent saw change when they released new
music. Contrastingly, 22 per cent added less content
with five per cent taking a social media break
altogether seeing it as an opportunity to reassess and
practice more on their music or personal lives.
Artists engaged with the platforms in multiple
ways, from posting video content in the form of
covers, music videos, live streaming gigs and, in a few
instances, even a DIY festival. Instagram Live proved
a useful feature with artists using the platform for polls
and quizzes and a unique opportunity to live stream
performances and direct fan Q&As.
One respondent saw the opportunity to watch videos and
educate themselves on how to use social media effectively as
“the one reason they were grateful for lockdown”.
SPQR’s Harrison related to these frustrations of not being
as active online as others and having concerns. “All of a sudden
you’ve had to move from someone who writes songs to being
a ‘content creator’ and a lot of us [musicians] just aren’t that at
all,” he said. “I felt like I wasn’t doing enough online and I was