As the world tries to get a grip on combatting the coronavirus, the events that are being canceled because of it continues to grow.

According to Billboard, on Thursday (Mar 12), Live Nation and AEG announced the plan to pause all Live Nation tours, instructing acts currently on tour to get ready to return home. The move will impact all tours operated by the company, including those domestically and internationally. A select number of shows scheduled for Thursday and Friday will still go ahead, but starting this weekend all shows will be postponed until at least the end of March.

In addition to postponing all tours, Live Nation has taken preventative measures to protect employees as well, notifying all employees to work remotely for the rest of the month, noting its Beverly Hills headquarters will be “mostly closed.” Although the offices will be closed for the month of March, executives note that the current plan is to re-evaluate the situation at the start of April.

As Rolling Stone reports, the impact of the cancellations amid the COVID-19 pandemic has been severe on the music industry with Coronavirus-related event cancellations seemingly barreling in by the hour. Coupled with the lack of information and no clear deadline to when the crisis will actually end—the music and live entertainment industry is struggling.

“We’re preparing for everything although we’re hoping that if enough companies and organizations take mitigation tactics seriously, it could be contained by the summer,” Zena White, managing director of independent record label Partisan, told the publication. “There’s a social responsibility to try to do what we can to protect the vulnerable, but no doubt this is a huge risk to artists and independent promoters’ businesses. No one has a crystal ball, but the longer we wait to take action, the less likely it will be contained soon.“

Live Nation and AEG were joined by Creative Artists Agency (CAA), William Morris Endeavor (WME), Paradigm, and United Talent Agency, in releasing a statement about the active measures they’re taking in the concert industry moving forward.

“The world’s leading forces in live entertainment have come together to form a global task force to drive strategic support and unified direction ensuring precautionary efforts and ongoing protocol are in the best interest of artists, fans, staff, and the global community,” they said in the joint statement. “At this time, we collectively recommend large scale events through the end of March be postponed. We continue to support that small-scale events follow guidance set by their local government officials. We feel fortunate to have the flexibility to reschedule concerts, festivals, and live events as needed, and look forward to connecting fans with all their favorite artists and live entertainment soon.”

As of right now, no layoffs are planned.

Source: HipHopWired.com

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