The ongoing pandemic is changing the music scene the world over. Of late, the stage has changed for everyone — be it a celebrity or a local bar musician.
“Rituals provide comfort because they remind us we’re not alone,” New York Times columnist David Brooks said in one of his opinion pieces last year. “Rituals also comfort because they concretise spiritual experiences.” Although there's no accurate data on how much money the music industry is going to lose amid the coronavirus lockdown, some experts have pegged it toA woman wearing a facial mask makes her way across 6th Avenue near the historic Radio City Music Hall, Sunday, March 29, 2020, in New York. There is something very powerful about people coming together at a designated place at an appointed time to do something and experience it together.
“Everyone is using the same tech stuff, and the quality of the art is immediately palpable,” Escamilla explains. “There is no cheating.” For him, the pandemic has turned out to be a great equaliser. With live shows on Facebook or Instagram, there is no difference between a new artist or a more established one. “This is a time when everything is without filters,” Escamilla says. “You have to show what you’ve got. Everybody is producing the same way. You don’t have access to big studios.