Project II : Concert Venues
For Project II, my goal was to explore different topics concerning concert venues. I researched COVID-19's effect on concert venues, steps I would need to take to work in the venue business, and what kind of role that these venues play in our communities.
During the research process, I had to opportunity to interview JJ Sheffer, owner of Kable House Presents in York, PA, and Julia Pantalone who works at Live Nation as a Senior Brand Manager and in Media & Sponsorship. Through those interviews, I was able to gain a lot of valuable information. This project was meant to be an exploration for me and a way to get a better idea of the occupation I would like to take on later in life. I am extremely grateful to now have two individuals that I can reach out to. Owning a music venue and working with a company like Live Nation are two occupations that interest me the most at the moment, so this experience was very helpful and beneficial for me. For my products, I decided to write an essay for Social Studies on COVID-19's affect on concert venues, I wrote a reflection on my interview for English, and I created concert venue advertisement poster for Art. |
Social Studies
In the year 2020, many peoples’ lives have been flipped upside down. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced society to make changes in the way we function in our daily lives. Many businesses are going through difficult hardships during this time. Live music venues, in particular, have been struggling immensely to survive.
Many venues have had to close their doors permanently. While this is heartbreaking in itself, the closing of these venues could create an issue for other businesses in the future. Think about it. When an artist goes on tour, they will have a tour route. This tour route consists of which concert venues they will be performing at. If one of the stops for an artist is at, for example, the Fillmore in Philadelphia, then hotels, restaurants, and other establishments near the venue will then gain profit because of that concert. Many people will stay at a hotel overnight to go to the concert, eat dinner at a restaurant before the show, or maybe even get drinks at a bar nearby afterward. “You don't have to be interested in live music or the arts to understand that it's really important to the economy and to our culture for every dollar that people spent buying tickets to go to a concert, they are spending twelve dollars outside of that,” said JJ Sheffer, owner of Kable House Presents, during an interview. This goes to show that concert venues play an important role in places’ local economies.
When establishments began to close, independent venues were the first to do so; however, they will be the last to reopen. “When polled, 90% said they would have to close permanently by the end of 2020 if COVID-19 prevented them from reopening and they didn’t receive assistance from the federal government” (DeLuca). Even though the venues are closed, many must still pay for expenses, such as heating and cooling, mortgage/rent, bills, loans, and insurance. Pennsylvania’s independent venues have been in a loss of 96% or more in revenue since March 13th, 2020. In Pennsylvania, the PA Save Our Stages Act is being led by Representative Jake Wheatley. The PA SOS Act secures a $200 million grant program for live venue promoters, operators, and producers. Eligible recipients include those that organize, promote, produce, manage, or host ticketed live concerts, comedy shows, theatrical productions, or other events by paid performing artists. The PA SOS Act would be extremely beneficial to independent venues and could help save venues that would have otherwise had to close their doors permanently.
As a venue permanently closes, it could cause an issue for the surviving venues. In my interview with JJ Sheffer of Kable House Presents in York, PA, she explained that if so many venues shut down on a touring route, that touring route may not have stops any longer. “Each major market supports countless secondary markets due to proximity. If tours can’t route to primary markets due to COVID-19 hotspots, both primary, secondary, and tertiary cities will be impacted” (NIVA). To revisit the point concerning the local economy, if these concert venues are not able to have shows or performances, then other businesses nearby will also lose money. This SOS Act is crucial to the well-being and prosperity of our local economies.
Not everything that has come out of this pandemic is negative, however. People in the music industry are finding new ways to cope with current conditions. During these past few weeks, I have been able to reach out to Julia Pantalone who works as a Senior Brand Manager and in Media & Sponsorship for Live Nation. According to Pantalone, Live Nation is finding ways for fans to keep in touch with artists and music. One of these ways is called, “Live From Home,” which started in March 2020. “It’s a virtual hub with updated daily live streams, content, and more to keep fans connected to their favorite artists, straight from their homes,” explained Pantalone. The other way is called, “Live from the Drive-in,” which is a drive-in show series. Live Nation put in place many safety guidelines for these events. So far, the drive-in shows have had a great turnout. More than 23,000 fans and almost 6,000 cars were in attendance for the events. “Our first drive-in events took place over three nights in July in venue parking lots in St. Louis, Nashville & Indy. Fans were able to drive right up to their own private tailgate space and enjoy live music again in a safe environment with close family and friends” (Pantalone). Artists are finding ways to connect with their fans through online live stream events. “ I think live streaming will stay part of our record chart in the future and how we get our music in front of people. I think it's taught people a lot” (Sheffer). Personally, I believe that over the course of the pandemic, artists have been able to work on new music and content. Usually, when an artist drops new music, they will announce a tour soon after. I think that since artists are having so many new releases, artists will be eager to go on tour once venues are open again.
It is hard to say what the future of concerts and live shows will look like. “While it may be some time until we can have concerts at 100% capacity, I think we will eventually get back to the way concerts were pre-Covid! In fact, our studies show that 87% of fans are likely to return to live music events, so the desire to get back to shows is definitely out there!” (Pantalone). I think that once concert venues are able to open their doors again, fans and artists will be excited to once again experience a live event. Until then, venues will need to receive money to be able to pay for expenses so they can survive during this challenging time.
Many venues have had to close their doors permanently. While this is heartbreaking in itself, the closing of these venues could create an issue for other businesses in the future. Think about it. When an artist goes on tour, they will have a tour route. This tour route consists of which concert venues they will be performing at. If one of the stops for an artist is at, for example, the Fillmore in Philadelphia, then hotels, restaurants, and other establishments near the venue will then gain profit because of that concert. Many people will stay at a hotel overnight to go to the concert, eat dinner at a restaurant before the show, or maybe even get drinks at a bar nearby afterward. “You don't have to be interested in live music or the arts to understand that it's really important to the economy and to our culture for every dollar that people spent buying tickets to go to a concert, they are spending twelve dollars outside of that,” said JJ Sheffer, owner of Kable House Presents, during an interview. This goes to show that concert venues play an important role in places’ local economies.
When establishments began to close, independent venues were the first to do so; however, they will be the last to reopen. “When polled, 90% said they would have to close permanently by the end of 2020 if COVID-19 prevented them from reopening and they didn’t receive assistance from the federal government” (DeLuca). Even though the venues are closed, many must still pay for expenses, such as heating and cooling, mortgage/rent, bills, loans, and insurance. Pennsylvania’s independent venues have been in a loss of 96% or more in revenue since March 13th, 2020. In Pennsylvania, the PA Save Our Stages Act is being led by Representative Jake Wheatley. The PA SOS Act secures a $200 million grant program for live venue promoters, operators, and producers. Eligible recipients include those that organize, promote, produce, manage, or host ticketed live concerts, comedy shows, theatrical productions, or other events by paid performing artists. The PA SOS Act would be extremely beneficial to independent venues and could help save venues that would have otherwise had to close their doors permanently.
As a venue permanently closes, it could cause an issue for the surviving venues. In my interview with JJ Sheffer of Kable House Presents in York, PA, she explained that if so many venues shut down on a touring route, that touring route may not have stops any longer. “Each major market supports countless secondary markets due to proximity. If tours can’t route to primary markets due to COVID-19 hotspots, both primary, secondary, and tertiary cities will be impacted” (NIVA). To revisit the point concerning the local economy, if these concert venues are not able to have shows or performances, then other businesses nearby will also lose money. This SOS Act is crucial to the well-being and prosperity of our local economies.
Not everything that has come out of this pandemic is negative, however. People in the music industry are finding new ways to cope with current conditions. During these past few weeks, I have been able to reach out to Julia Pantalone who works as a Senior Brand Manager and in Media & Sponsorship for Live Nation. According to Pantalone, Live Nation is finding ways for fans to keep in touch with artists and music. One of these ways is called, “Live From Home,” which started in March 2020. “It’s a virtual hub with updated daily live streams, content, and more to keep fans connected to their favorite artists, straight from their homes,” explained Pantalone. The other way is called, “Live from the Drive-in,” which is a drive-in show series. Live Nation put in place many safety guidelines for these events. So far, the drive-in shows have had a great turnout. More than 23,000 fans and almost 6,000 cars were in attendance for the events. “Our first drive-in events took place over three nights in July in venue parking lots in St. Louis, Nashville & Indy. Fans were able to drive right up to their own private tailgate space and enjoy live music again in a safe environment with close family and friends” (Pantalone). Artists are finding ways to connect with their fans through online live stream events. “ I think live streaming will stay part of our record chart in the future and how we get our music in front of people. I think it's taught people a lot” (Sheffer). Personally, I believe that over the course of the pandemic, artists have been able to work on new music and content. Usually, when an artist drops new music, they will announce a tour soon after. I think that since artists are having so many new releases, artists will be eager to go on tour once venues are open again.
It is hard to say what the future of concerts and live shows will look like. “While it may be some time until we can have concerts at 100% capacity, I think we will eventually get back to the way concerts were pre-Covid! In fact, our studies show that 87% of fans are likely to return to live music events, so the desire to get back to shows is definitely out there!” (Pantalone). I think that once concert venues are able to open their doors again, fans and artists will be excited to once again experience a live event. Until then, venues will need to receive money to be able to pay for expenses so they can survive during this challenging time.
English
During this project, I had the opportunity to talk with Julia Pantalone of Live Nation and JJ Sheffer of Kable House Presents. I interviewed JJ Sheffer on Wednesday, October 14. I was able to talk to Julia Pantalone through email and on a Zoom call with Mr. Ward on Thursday, October 15. I gained a lot of valuable information through these interviews. This project was meant to be an exploration for me and a way to get a better idea of the occupation I would like to take on later in life. I am extremely grateful to now have two individuals that I can reach out to. Owning a music venue and working with a company like Live Nation are two occupations that interest me the most at the moment, so this experience was very helpful and beneficial for me.
One of the things that I was curious about, was the kind of education that I may need or classes that may be of help to me if I were to follow either of those career paths. I learned from Julia that many of her colleagues have different schooling backgrounds. Julia had said that she had an undergrad major in Television, Radio & Film and a Masters in Sports Management. These things don’t directly correlate with what she does in her job now; however, she did put a lot of emphasis on getting involved in different clubs and internships. “Internships are really important. If you’re younger and don’t qualify for some internships, be sure that you’re involved in school—join marketing and music-related clubs, take on roles that involve leadership within your fraternity/sorority, etc…the most important thing is that you’re getting experience and are able to leverage that into a role” (Pantalone). I admit that I am not very involved as I would like. I had originally planned to try to join many clubs Junior year, but with COVID-19 and remote learning, I haven’t been able to do so. I was involved in the Optimist Club last year, which I really enjoyed. I had the opportunity to organize a donation event amongst the club for a Homeless Shelter. I enjoy being social and I find a lot of happiness from helping others and the community.
In my interview with JJ, she said that she did not go to school for what occupation she has now. This is similar to Julia. JJ said that one of the most important skills for her is writing. She said that when she is looking for volunteers or assistants, she will turn them down if their writing skills are lacking. She has to communicate a lot in her job with writing, so she suggests any class that I can build strong writing abilities. She also suggested a public relations class and an accounting class. She said that she suggests an accounting class because it is a good thing to learn and that numbers are sometimes hard for her. I also struggle with numbers and mathematic so I think I will consider this class for the future. Both Julia and JJ both seemed to stress the significance of obtaining life skills from classes/internships, no matter what the subject or topic of focus is. I think that the thinking skills that we use and learn in school are an example of “real-life” skills that are important for the future.
I had also wondered what process I may have to take to either manage a concert venue or work with a company like Live Nation. In the interview with Julia, she said she had been previously working in marketing at a sporting goods retailer in New York. She had been let go from her job as the company was downsizing. Julia took this unfortunate event and used it as motivation to work harder. That’s when she found the Live Nation job on LinkedIn, which she recommended as a good place to network and job search. She had, I believe, five interviews and then was given the job. She now works as a Senior Brand Manager and in Media & Sponsorship.
In the interview with JJ, she explained to me that she was a big live music fan and that it has always been that way. Kable House Presents, the independent concert venue she runs, was the idea of her friend. Since there wasn’t really a venue nearby that had an in-between number of seating in comparison to two other venues in Downtown York, she started Kable House Presents so that her friend, who worked booking shows, didn’t have to pass up as many bands. JJ said that one of her favorite parts about Downtown York is the Central Market, which at the time, was able to be rented out; not many people knew you could do so. The Central Market had just gotten renovations done and she didn’t want the space to go to waste. She decided to start a concert series called Kable House Presents. She needed funding to be able to make everything happen so she did fundraising. Along with the fundraising, she also started a Kickstarter campaign. The fundraising went very well and the first show was in 2014. Many things went into the process of starting Kable House Presents. I hope to, in the future, go to one of the shows and experience first-hand how everything operates.
Overall, I think that this has been one of the most personally beneficial projects I have ever worked on. I feel that the things I learned in my research and in the interviews will help me a lot in future classes and deciding on what path I would like to take for college and my occupation. I am very grateful for this experience and being able to talk with two amazing individuals.
One of the things that I was curious about, was the kind of education that I may need or classes that may be of help to me if I were to follow either of those career paths. I learned from Julia that many of her colleagues have different schooling backgrounds. Julia had said that she had an undergrad major in Television, Radio & Film and a Masters in Sports Management. These things don’t directly correlate with what she does in her job now; however, she did put a lot of emphasis on getting involved in different clubs and internships. “Internships are really important. If you’re younger and don’t qualify for some internships, be sure that you’re involved in school—join marketing and music-related clubs, take on roles that involve leadership within your fraternity/sorority, etc…the most important thing is that you’re getting experience and are able to leverage that into a role” (Pantalone). I admit that I am not very involved as I would like. I had originally planned to try to join many clubs Junior year, but with COVID-19 and remote learning, I haven’t been able to do so. I was involved in the Optimist Club last year, which I really enjoyed. I had the opportunity to organize a donation event amongst the club for a Homeless Shelter. I enjoy being social and I find a lot of happiness from helping others and the community.
In my interview with JJ, she said that she did not go to school for what occupation she has now. This is similar to Julia. JJ said that one of the most important skills for her is writing. She said that when she is looking for volunteers or assistants, she will turn them down if their writing skills are lacking. She has to communicate a lot in her job with writing, so she suggests any class that I can build strong writing abilities. She also suggested a public relations class and an accounting class. She said that she suggests an accounting class because it is a good thing to learn and that numbers are sometimes hard for her. I also struggle with numbers and mathematic so I think I will consider this class for the future. Both Julia and JJ both seemed to stress the significance of obtaining life skills from classes/internships, no matter what the subject or topic of focus is. I think that the thinking skills that we use and learn in school are an example of “real-life” skills that are important for the future.
I had also wondered what process I may have to take to either manage a concert venue or work with a company like Live Nation. In the interview with Julia, she said she had been previously working in marketing at a sporting goods retailer in New York. She had been let go from her job as the company was downsizing. Julia took this unfortunate event and used it as motivation to work harder. That’s when she found the Live Nation job on LinkedIn, which she recommended as a good place to network and job search. She had, I believe, five interviews and then was given the job. She now works as a Senior Brand Manager and in Media & Sponsorship.
In the interview with JJ, she explained to me that she was a big live music fan and that it has always been that way. Kable House Presents, the independent concert venue she runs, was the idea of her friend. Since there wasn’t really a venue nearby that had an in-between number of seating in comparison to two other venues in Downtown York, she started Kable House Presents so that her friend, who worked booking shows, didn’t have to pass up as many bands. JJ said that one of her favorite parts about Downtown York is the Central Market, which at the time, was able to be rented out; not many people knew you could do so. The Central Market had just gotten renovations done and she didn’t want the space to go to waste. She decided to start a concert series called Kable House Presents. She needed funding to be able to make everything happen so she did fundraising. Along with the fundraising, she also started a Kickstarter campaign. The fundraising went very well and the first show was in 2014. Many things went into the process of starting Kable House Presents. I hope to, in the future, go to one of the shows and experience first-hand how everything operates.
Overall, I think that this has been one of the most personally beneficial projects I have ever worked on. I feel that the things I learned in my research and in the interviews will help me a lot in future classes and deciding on what path I would like to take for college and my occupation. I am very grateful for this experience and being able to talk with two amazing individuals.
Art
For my art product, I decided to make a concert venue advertisement poster. On the poster, it includes 5 concert dates, the title of the venue, address, venue’s phone number, and website. The name I chose for my venue was “XIAOBAITU,” which came from the Chinese translation of “little white rabbit.” 小白兔 (xiǎo bái tù) is the name of a Chinese nursery rhyme. I chose this name because I am currently enrolled in Chinese 3 and I wanted to be able to incorporate something I learned in that course into my Apollo project.
The thinking skill for this project is perspective. I used perspective by taking things from my personal experiences and thoughts to create something that demonstrates those things. I had to use the perspective of a live music fan and then also imagine as though I owned a music venue and used that perspective to put together my project. |