Number of ticket holders not attending gigs skyrockets to 40% due to Covid concerns

Nearly 40% of fans are failing to show up to music events in the UK due to increasing Covid concerns according to the latest analysis by The Guardian.

“You always had people that didn’t turn up,” artist manager Graeme Stewart told the newspaper. “It was around 5% normally, but you’re getting as much as 40% no-shows for some gigs now. It’s an enormous problem, and it’s happening for anything that’s ticketed.”

The Guardian interviewed a number of UK promoters and music-industry professionals for the analysis, all of them having noted the attendance drop-off.

“We’re seeing a big drop-off, even at really hot, sold-out shows. It’s happening every single night, and it’s affecting all artists,” said Sacha Lord, night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester and co-founder of Parklife festival.

Following the news, the Music Venue Trust, a charitable organization that seeks to secure and protect music venues in the United Kingdom, has called for "decisive and immediate action" by the UK government.

"Regardless of any restrictions or vaccination campaigns, the fact is that grassroots music venues are experiencing a huge downturn in the number of people attending," Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd said in a statement. "This real-life outcome results directly from confused messaging by the Government and risks making the sector economically unviable very quickly."

"Decisive and immediate action is needed to address this situation. That action must include the immediate cancellation of the VAT rise and the suspension of Business Rates. Specific funding to prevent permanent grassroots music venue closures needs to be brought forward."

"After 23 months of this crisis, and repeated requests from this sector and elsewhere, the Government must finally adopt the position where the decisions it makes are directly tied to, and announced simultaneously with, the action required to deal with the financial outcomes of those decisions."

Yesterday (December 14th) Boris Johnson passed new regulations including ordering people to wear masks in public places and introducing the use of COVID-19 passes for certain venues.

This switch to 'Plan B' was met with contempt by the Prime Minister's own party, with nearly 100 Conservative lawmakers voting against the new coronavirus restrictions.

As the Omicron variant continues to spread throughout Europe, more and more countries are reinstating Covid restrictions. Last week, the Senate of Berlin introduced new legislation which banned dancing in nightclubs.