The State of the Music Business 2021
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The State of the Music Business 2021

Williamsburg Zoom

Moderator:

Jem Aswad, Deputy Music Editor, Variety

Just when it seemed that the music industry had settled around a new model — one where live entertainment is an artist’s main source of revenue — the pandemic completely up-ended the business. Suddenly, publishing and recorded music began growing in value exponentially while the concert business was almost completely shut down for nearly a year and a half. But with the industry slowly — and hopefully — returning to pre-pandemic conditions, what happens next? Will the touring business return fully to normal within a year? Two years? Ever? (And how many independent concert venues will still be in business if and when it does?) Is livestreaming here to stay? And will publishing and recorded-music catalogs keep growing in value, or is this a bubble? It’s all a moving target, but we’ll gather leaders from key industry sectors to try to make some sense of it and offer possible pathways forward.

Binta Niambi Brown

Binta Niambi Brown

Founder, omalilly projects

Brittney Spencer

Brittney Spencer

Artist & Songwriter

Kristina Hedrick

Kristina Hedrick

Vice President, U.S. Business Development at Sony Music Publishing

Lucy Dickins

Lucy Dickins

Lucy Dickins, Co-Head Music Division, WME

Jem Aswad

Jem Aswad

Executive Music Editor, Variety

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