Resilience of the pop sector in the Netherlands

And? Will the music sector survive the corona crisis? 

"The sector as a whole will certainly survive, but in a slimmed-down form. However, not every artist will survive the crisis. Problems that already existed before the crisis are being magnified. We already see people retraining. On the other hand, society yearns for live music. Our research shows that music can play a major role in improving personal and social well-being, which is missed, especially in times of physical isolation."

What exactly are you going to do?

"Together with Frank Kimenai, Britt Swartjes, Femke Vandenberg, Julian Schaap and others, I am researching the resilience of the pop sector in the Netherlands. And related to that, how pop music can contribute to individual and social health."

What do you expect the outcome to be? Do you have suggestions on how the music sector could transform?

"We expect the sector to be primarily concerned with short-term survival. However, the crisis also offers a good opportunity to initiate changes in the medium and long term. Think for example of strengthening the position of the maker, a fairer distribution of the money earned in the sector, or increasing diversity and inclusiveness. We also expect a role for the music sector in solving social challenges such as sustainability and increasing social cohesion. All these transformations contribute to the resilience of the sector."

Will this research be applicable to other cultural sectors in the future? 

"We are investigating applications to other sectors, and are thinking in particular of other (live) performing arts that have also been hit hard, such as theatre. In particular, the position of livestreams as 'the new normal' is an interesting research topic."