Blog

By Ruben Gjaltema

In this project I have looked into the impact of corona on HaFaBra (Harmony, Fanfare and Brassband) music in the Netherlands. More specifically I’ve looked at how Covid-19 (as a whole) changed the way music is made, and what this entails for the future (seeing this form of music is grounded in live performance). A major problem is that the varying Covid-19 measures and lockdowns have made it difficult to meet to practice or perform, especially in large numbers. This also meant that the specific scores written for harmony, fanfare, and brassbands couldn’t be played in the same way as before. Professional orchestras in the Netherlands have sidestepped this problem by dividing the different sections and arranging concerts per section. In the last three months, various concerts have been given by the brass section of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (especially small brass), and the flugel-horn section of the Orkest Koninklijke Marechaussee. Moreover, various new ensembles have been established during the pandemic. The interviews with Peter Kleine Schaars, Pieter Gjaltema and Durk Krol reveal that within the HaFaBra music market new compositions are released, specifically for these new ensembles. What does this mean for the future of HaFaBra?

By Ryan Oldenburger

Even in ‘normal’ times, the  music industry can be an uncertain place for many independent artists. This is especially true for young artists that are trying to gain a foothold in an industry that can feel inaccessible and is founded on the further strengthening of already established reputations. But now with the COVID-19 pandemic raging around the world, many starting artists are feeling completely lost. The pandemic has stripped them of many of the ways they could otherwise market themselves and to get their music heard, and has made finding a lasting place in the industry even more difficult.

In this video, I examine the effect the crisis has had on upcoming, independent musicians, and whether or not it influenced their creative process and overall mindset regarding being a musician. Furthermore, I will discuss strategies that musicians can employ in order to market themselves regardless of the pandemic, and how streaming ‘levels the playing field’ for new artists that want to be heard, be that a positive or a negative. Finally, I will talk about the at times ‘touchy’ subject of monetization, and point out various methods that independent artists can utilize to still earn some money off of their work.

All of these topics will be discussed in reference to existing literature, plus an interview I did with one such independent artist, Andrew Fernandez. Andrew spearheads his own project Data Kiss, whilst also being a full-time member of the Groningen-based, indie-pop band No Shame Rosé. His personal insights are very telling and truly encapsulate how many musicians have felt during this pandemic.

This video is meant mostly for upcoming, independent artists (musicians, producers, etc.) who are trying to find ways to thrive and build a successful career, despite the current external factors.

By Dana Sasu

On January 22, 2020, HYBE Corporation, a recent rebrand of the South-Korean music and entertainment company Big Hit Entertainment, announced the schedule for the worldwide concert tour Map of the Soul Tour, headlined by K-Pop boy band BTS. The tour was supposed to kick-off on April 11 at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, and then travel to venues all over the globe. We all know what happened since. A global health crisis broke out and the tour was cancelled.

In this blog post, I look at how HYBE Corporation and their most famous act, BTS, responded to the challenges faced by the music and entertainment industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic. How to survive in a time when performing in front of an audience is no longer a given and travelling restrictions have made touring impossible? How to absorb the loss of the important revenue source of selling tickets for live music, or the loss of the collective fan experience that a concert can offer? The example of HYBE and BTS shows how some brands and bands in the industry have used the pandemic to further invest in virtual concepts for performing music and for engaging with fans. Concepts that may have a lasting impact on the industry, even as societies are slowly opening up again and live concerts with audiences are once again taking place.

Continue reading “Showtime in the Stay-at-Home Era: How a South-Korean label and boy band are pioneering online music gigs”

by Roel Griffioen

This time a year ago, this blog published contributions written by students for the course ‘Arts and Humanities in Times of Corona’, which was designed rather ad hoc as a substitute for the MA internship at a moment that institutions had to close their doors, cultural agendas were wiped clean and the pandemic was still relatively new but already seemed to last forever. The idea was to help students, as a substitute for work experience that cannot actually be replicated or simulated, to orientate themselves in the professional field in which they will operate after their studies. At the same time, the course aimed to assess the aesthetic, social, political and economic impact of the pandemic by collaboratively studying texts and analysing cultural products. 

At the time, it was hard to foresee that a year later, life would still be dominated by Covid-19; that academic education would still be (largely) digital and remote; that cultural life had still not fully taken off; that, in fact, culture would still be primarily consumed through screens. It was equally difficult to foresee that due to these circumstances a rerun of this course would be necessary.

In this edition too, we want to use this blog to showcase a number of student contributions. Written blog posts, but also – and this is a first for this platform – videos. Some students chose to reflect on concepts that have been covered in class, such as crisis, mobility, precarity, or commoning. Others have chosen a more practice oriented subject, or selected one particular case study to discuss in detail. Together with last year’s student contributions, that can still be found on this blog, the texts and videos form a valuable cross-section of thinking about art, culture and cultural work in times of pandemic.