How Online & TV Music Programmes Helped During the Pandemic
It’s been mentioned multiple times how music helps our mental health, and in difficult times like this, it’s never been more important.
At the same time, millions of musicians across the world found themselves without work, unable to perform. By combining the need for music to be heard and enjoyed by an audience with the importance of supporting these talented individuals, we soon started to see more programmes on TV and online displaying a myriad of musical performances.
From live streams of musicians playing in their homes to the BBC proms taking place without an audience, classical music continued to exist even if with restrictions while millions of people continued to find solace in these performances. Just as importantly, people were eager to help performers in the arts and to do their bit in keeping theatres and concert venues alive. Many of them paid small contributions to enjoy live streams of talented musicians doing what they do best, as more and more people became aware of the threat that this pandemic has been to the professionals in this industry.
Sky Arts also began offering an abundance of classical music content, making it easy for anyone to find something to their liking. They made programs that highlighted how the arts might look like post-pandemic, a topic that raised a lot of discussions and that continues to remain uncertain. One thing is now sure - audiences continue to love classical music and are willing to support it whenever they have the chance, something that's highly important as more and more venues re-open their doors over the summer.
What especially caught my eye was the inventiveness of organising live performances that people could attend by simply using their cars as a safe bubble. This way, musicians could enjoy the experience of performing to an audience once again, even if under different conditions. These performances positively impacted the mental health of so many, creating a sense of normality at a time where everything felt so different.
It’s this determination to find solutions and ways to share classical music with its audiences that really made a difference in the pandemic. So many livelihoods have been a stake due to theatres and concert halls being closed, and any opportunities to still perform were essential to millions of individuals working in the arts. Not only them but also the young musicians who are trying to make a career out of music, who missed out on the chance to continue to perform and work on their playing in front of an audience.
While I obviously hope that the music industry will increasingly recover from this pandemic and go back to its full program of live performances, I think it’s great that anyone anywhere in the world was able to access it so easily.
Even outside of the pandemic, live concerts are not always accessible to everyone and I hope that we’ll maintain at least part of this effort to show its beauty to more people, regardless of where they are and whether they can afford a ticket.
