As concern over the spread of the coronavirus quickly spread this week, the world’s two largest live entertainment companies, AEG and Live Nation, and several major agencies have announced that they are suspending touring for the rest. of the month of March.
Billed as a “statement from Live Nation, AEG, CAA, WME, Paradigm and UTA,” the statement reads as follows:
“The world’s leading forces in live entertainment have come together to form a global task force to provide strategic support and unified leadership, ensuring that precautionary efforts and ongoing protocol are in the best interests of artists, fans, staff and the global community.
The task force includes Michael Rapino (CEO and President, Live Nation Entertainment), Dan Beckerman (President and CEO, AEG and Board Member, ASM Global), Jay Marciano (President and CEO, AEG Presents), Rob Light (Associate Director and Head of Music, CAA), Marc Geiger (Partner and Head of Music, WME), Sam Gores (President, Paradigm), Marty Diamond (Head of Global Music, Paradigm) and David Zedeck ( world music chief, UTA).
“For now, we collectively recommend the postponement of large-scale events until the end of March. We continue to maintain that small-scale events follow guidelines set by their local government officials. We feel fortunate to have the opportunity to reschedule concerts, festivals and live events as needed, and we look forward to connecting fans with all of their favorite artists and live shows soon. “
The collective statement from promoters and agencies is unprecedented in the modern touring industry and will affect hundreds of concerts and thousands of ticket buyers around the world. Among the acts currently on the road – and being forced to stop – are Billie Eilish, who kicked off an extensive arena tour on Monday, Tame Impala, who performed two nights at the Los Angeles Forum earlier this week, The Strokes (scheduled for Forum on Saturday), Post Malone, Michael Buble, Maluma, Cher, Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown Band, Trippie Redd and Young MA, plus many more. It seems that the directive applies to all concerts in the world.
