As a result of COVID-19, many artists have been forced to cancel their festivals, concerts, and world tours, resulting in a large increase of performances through social media, streaming services, and other platforms. While online performances have always existed, in the past year the popularity has drastically increased in order to bring “live” shows to the fans in a time of uncertainty.

     Popular artist, Billie Eilish had to cancel her tour when the coronavirus started, but instead of letting her fans down, she held a livestream on her website. The only catch is, in order to attend, people had to pay 30 dollars per ticket. While the 30 dollars bought fans exclusive merchandise and other perks alongside seeing Eilish perform, to many individuals it still seems unnecessary to pay. 

     Habon Samatar ’22 shares, “I think that there is no need to pay [for virtual concerts] because you can just watch those videos online and you’re paying to be at home, and listen to an artist that you could just be listening to on Spotify.” She goes on and says, “Artists aren’t really putting any money into their virtual concerts themselves so why would they need to get any money back.”

     Unless the event is to help raise money for charity purposes Alex Weisman ’22 agrees, “Since it’s not a concert in the traditional sense, I’m not going to pay anywhere near the traditional price.” Samatar feels that virtual concerts which support charitable causes sound a bit more realistic, yet they still lack the overall community and thrill of an in-person experience.

     With the current restrictions that are in place, artists have no other choice than to use online platforms and streaming services. While this can be difficult to mimic the traditional concert experience, hopefully in the near future, our circumstances will change, allowing artists to start performing live, once again.