To Be Announced

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated closures of live music venues have confronted operators in Germany with fundamental uncertainty about the prospects of their venues. In the summer of 2020, both public and political debates revolved around the question of whether operators might have to close or could remain open during the crisis, with the overarching viewpoint being that closures were the most sensible option. Using data from the German live music survey (n = 686) and linear regression modelling, this article analyses the factors influencing the expected duration until insolvency. We show that the continuous financial support provided by the state extended the expected time to insolvency, as did the number of actors and initiatives using venues on a regular basis. On the other hand, operators with market venues, venues for lease and venues in big cities had more pessimistic expectations. The results demonstrate the safeguarding function of state support and diverse live music networks in times of crisis and bear important implications for the promotion of resilient live music ecologies.