Beijing: AI Jing , which runs concert booking agency Haze Sounds, finds it difficult to find musicians these days. Concert bookers in Beijing often feel like the most recent COVID-19 curbs offer business a chance to never shut down before another round of restrictions kicks in. Since live events were banned in the capital in April. putting many musicians out of business.
As few cases are ready to be planned in light of the continuing possibility of unpredictable lockdown in any city. AI can hardly turn to touring musicians.
According to AI, the zero-Covid policy makes the live music industry incredibly unpredictable and uncertain. Meanwhile, concertgoers who are COVID positive are reluctant to interact with fans, which has a negative impact on ticket sales.
Live music and entertainment venues, which are generally among the last to benefit from the easing of restrictions, have been particularly affected by China's ultra-strict "dynamic zero-COVID" strategy, which allows entire cities Allows clocks to be turned off in a handful of cases.
Major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai have lifted sweeping restrictions that have forced restaurants and other businesses to close, but many bars, karaoke bars, nightclubs and concerts across the country are still waiting to be freed from those restrictions. are waiting. which were installed months ago. this year.
A cocktail bar owner has said on record that his establishment in the usually busy Chaoyang district is still closed, despite Beijing allowing bars in quieter areas to reopen.
The bar's owner told Al Jazeera that officials think "bars or clubs are just for fun and should be closed," adding that the government's tough stance has left many of its fellow bar owners "thinking "Beijing is not a good place. The future is in the bar."
According to Shin Sun, a senior lecturer in Chinese and East Asian business at King's College London, the government has taken a particularly tough stance against entertainment venues, as they had ties to significant outbreaks earlier in the pandemic.
According to Shin, many of these crowded and closed spaces have been suspended by the local government because they are considered more dangerous. Beijing's major outbreak in June focused on the bottle beer bar Heaven Supermarket.
Even though such superspreader events have garnered attention, cities have been barred from just ten infections.
A single positive case prompted authorities in Wugang, a steel-producing city in Henan province, to put the entire 300,000-person population on lockdown for three days starting July 11. In recent weeks, millions of people have been affected by partial lockdowns and businesses. Closed in Xian, Lanzhou, Haikou, Macau and Anhui provinces.
According to Shin of King's College, future restrictions may vary in severity depending on the city or province where the infections are found.
Still, Xin claimed that Beijing's adamant pandemic strategy had "dramatically exacerbated business uncertainties".
Future lockdowns remain a constant threat as officials have not indicated that they will be changing their zero-tolerance policy any time soon.
Concert Booker AI is preparing for additional restrictions, which they anticipate will have implications beyond the nightlife industry.
I'm very worried about it, Ai said. "If this continues, it won't affect my business. The live music scene will eventually die, and the entire cultural industry will be destroyed.
