The post-pandemic future of concerts is hybrid
28 May 2021
The new cheap seats for the show are in your own home.
The big picture: It's not just hybrid workplaces or schools. In the post-pandemic world, we'll have hybrid performances, too.
What's happening: Over the past year, musicians, comedians and other performers have had to get creative as the pandemic forced cancellations of their live, in-person shows, turning to online entertainment that has worked better than expected.
Why it matters: Even as more and more Americans are getting vaccinated, many are still wary of attending large, in-person gatherings like concerts. Just 33% of Americans say they'd be comfortable going to an indoor concert after the pandemic, per a recent Performance Research survey.
- For those who want to wait a bit before entering an arena again — and for those who want to hear the live music but don't want to deal with crazy expensive tickets and long lines — the at-home option could be a great solution.
These virtual experiences are no small affair. Pop star Dua Lipa put on a virtual concert in November 2020 that cost $1.5 million and took five months of prep, reports Rolling Stone. The concert drew 5 million viewers — more than 20 times more people than the biggest live show in history.
- And virtual shows can even build the hype for in-person ones. Concert tickets for Dua Lipa's tour spiked 70% after her livestreamed concert, per Rolling Stone.
The bottom line: Tickets for in-person shows are selling rapidly now as Americans are eager to celebrate the end of a long year and a half at home.
- But look for virtual show production to become a growing part of the entertainment economy as the pandemic's lessons extend into the post-COVID world.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.