The Sound of COVID-19: How Musicians Used Their Platform to Make a Difference

Featured image illustrated by the author. Unless specified otherwise, illustrations are courtesy of the author.

Despite falling revenue in live music, statistics reveal that others aspects of the industry were thriving at the turn of 2020, particularly in regards to streaming (Statista 2020).

Despite the negative commercial impact wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic on some facets of the music industry (Hall 2020), our relationship with music is, in a number of ways, more important than ever. A noteworthy proportion of young people fall back on self-chosen music to combat feelings of loneliness (Greasley et al. 2011), and this has meaningful potential application for times of government enforced isolation. The use of music to communicate important health messaging has been documented in Quebec (Lemaire 2020), and similar instances can be identified worldwide upon a simple YouTube search. Along with other, more prevalent media vehicles, music has proven an invaluable resource in the battle against coronavirus.

Throughout the course of the pandemic, some artists used their platform to communicate important health messaging through music.

In December of 2020, students at Bournemouth University gathered to discuss some examples of songs about, and recorded during, the coronavirus pandemic. The collaborative playlist spanned a broad spectrum of genres, moods and countries of origin, and provided a wealth of varying perspectives and motivations regarding COVID-19. While some examples employed parody and humour to make light of a troubling situation, others warranted an emotive, mood-shifting response to inspire a sense of comfort or connectedness within the listener.

Live concerts to raise spirits and spread messages of solidarity demonstrate the power of music to combat negative feelings conjured by the pandemic (ABC News, 2020).

A potential success of this selection of songs in the context of COVID-19 could lie in the power of song writing to communicate detailed narratives and elicit emotional and behavioural shifts within individuals. The sprawling notion of complex personhood (Gordon 2008) means it is impossible to connect with all audiences using a singular media artefact. Music as a means to communicate important preventative measures forgoes this limitation, in that the massive selection of musical narratives readily available from a TV or smartphone (Hall 2020) means there is a higher chance that everybody can connect with something.

An exploratory discussion of this concept reveals that in times of sadness, confusion, loneliness, or just sheer boredom, all an individual might need to do is pick up a pair of headphones in order to start turning things around.

Reference List

ABC News, 2020. Musicians band together, hold benefit concerts during COVID-19 pandemic [video, online]. YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cPkWU6dsGs [Accessed 6 Feb 2021]

Gordon, A.F., 2008. Ghostly matters: Haunting and the sociological imagination [online]. 2nd edition. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press

Greasley, A.E., Lamont, A., 2011. Exploring engagement with music in everyday life using experience sampling methodology. Musicae Scientiae [online], 15 (1), 45-71

Hall, S., 2020. This is how COVID-19 is affecting the music industry. World Economic Forum [online], 27May 2020. Available from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/this-is-how-covid-19-is-affecting-the-music-industry/ [Accessed 6 Feb 2021]

Lemaire, E.C., 2020. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures: the use of music to communicate public health recommendations against the spread of COVID-19. Canadian Journal of Public Health [online], (Issue 111), 477-479

Statista, 2020. Streaming Drives Global Music Industry Resurgence [chart]. [Accessed 6 Feb 2021]

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