Reconceiving spatiality and value in the live music industries in response to COVID-19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic in the UK was predominantly framed as an economic crisis, one in which the economic systems through which revenue is derived from products and practices for many sectors had been abruptly closed off. Using Lefebvre’s trialectics of spatiality as a theoretical lens, this chapter argues that for the UK live music and festivals industries, this period should also be understood as a crisis of spatiality. Whilst the transformative potential of this unique pause for the music industries has not yet been fully or consistently realised, the reframing of the crisis through these terms offers a means to both identify and understand this potentiality. To analyse the limitations of official responses to the pandemic, and the potential of small-scale experiments by industry professionals, we apply Lefebvre’s model of conceived, perceived, and lived space. And in drawing upon two ongoing research projects in Scotland and the Midlands, this chapter argues that transformation requires a nuanced and critical engagement with the conceived aspects of live music spaces.