How You Can Help Local Music During the COVID Crisis.

A helpful guide to help the local scene.

Shit’s getting weird and uncertainty is swallowing us whole. Every hour it seems like there is news developments that feel impossible to keep up with, and so many industries are being affected by the Covid-19 crisis it’s easy to lose track. But take a deep breath, we will get through this and we will be okay. While we’re all stuck at home in shut down cities across the world, a lot of us are turning towards our music to help us get through this, which is why we all need to do what we can to help our musicians. They often work underpaying jobs in bars and restaurants, or even at trucking companies like a musician friend here in KC used to do, all in order to create and play music for us. I’m sure we all can relate a couple musicians to high school days, relationships, friendships, whatever. These artists are creating the backdrop to our lives, they make what we dance to, cry to, sing along with, and allow us to meet so many people while outside (or in a warehouse) smoking a cigarette between sets. They provide incredibly diverse demographics of people a place to gather and share thoughts, ideas, and criticisms. They are able to put our feelings into words better than we ever could ourselves. They need our help right now and we owe it to them to do what we can.  Here's a short list of ways you can help:

Buy music/merch

If you are able, and I honestly understand that not too many of us are, buy that band t-shirt you've had your eye on for a while. Treat yourself and order that vinyl release you’ve been wanting for 3 years. Order a cassette (those are pretty cheap!) and a tape player. Purchase unlimited streaming or music downloads from bandcamp, or directly from artist websites. Use that salary or those extra tips to financially support your favorite musicians in any way you can.  If you are such a fanboy, you already own all of a band’s merch and physical releases, email them and ask for their venmo. You can always contact musicians on Bandcamp.

Slide into those DM’s

Obviously money is tight for most people right now, so one free way to support your favorite artists is to just hit them up! Send a message to their instagram or their facebook! Or, if you're one of those kids who is too cool for social media, go to their Bandcamp and send them an email! We all crave validation, whether or not we want to admit it, and telling someone how much and why you love their music is an easy way to keep up their spirits and maintain motivation. Insider tip - a lot of musicians will be taking this time to write new music, so keep that in mind too!

If you have tickets to a cancelled show

And if you can afford it, don't ask for a refund. Most canceled shows and tours have already re-booked for this fall so keep that in mind. If you do need to ask for a refund, don't feel ashamed, we’re all struggling right now and even Beyonce can relate to financial struggles.

Stream! Stream! Stream!

Bandcamp often caps the amount of times you can listen to a track or album without paying for it, which is great for musicians because opposed to Spotify, in all its wonderful convenience, it is designed to give a platform to local musicians. Same goes for SoundCloud as well, that’s where Hinds was “discovered” about 5 years ago and look at them today! Even if you do still prefer Spotify as your main streaming service, the more you listen to a musician’s work, the bigger they can become, and the more likely they will be added to playlists curated by their behind-the-scenes team.

Also, speaking of playlists, think of them like a modern-day mixtape you can give to a friend or crush. A friend and I made each other playlists just in January to share our music with each other and we both had so much fun with it.  Playlists are also a great way to give any song more streams than it would otherwise. They can be sexy, sad, joyful, they can rage, they can be whatever you want so have fun with them! My most listened to self-curated playlist is called “Sad and Staticky”, it's your music, get creative!

Share! Share! Share!

Something as simple as posting/sharing links to what you’re listening to (and merch) on social media goes a long way, and helps musicians gain more listeners. We’re much more likely to listen to a song that someone we know shared as opposed to clicking onto a paid advert for some musician somewhere in LA. 

Listen to the radio

I know, I know, listening to the radio can feel like dragging grandpa’s old Zenith cabinet radio just to mess with the dials and fight off static. But hey, what else do you have to be doing right now? I typically do not listen to the radio, but the other day I was in my car and my phone died so I caught a radio show on 90.1 FM where several local artists were interviewed. I heard a trans musician talk about the inspiration of spending time in a punk house off Troost, and later heard a different musician play a couple songs live from his upcoming album, and that was such an incredible treat. I try to go see live music at least once a week, so I’ve really been struggling with self-isolating, but wowowowowow, that was super cool and something I never expected to enjoy so much. It is also an easy (AND FREE) way to continue supporting local businesses and people involved behind the scene.

Watch ALL the livestreams

One thing I will never forget about this pandemic is the amount of musicians setting up livestream shows. Live streaming was another thing I had been ignorant about, they never really caught my eye before, but I also just learned how to do instagram stories so maybe I’m just way out of the loop. That being said, over the weekend I watched at least four shows on livestream, which was not only giving some FOMO relief, but was also something so incredibly intimate and honest to see. It took me back to when I first moved to the city and was invited to my first ever basement show. These musicians are literally welcoming us into their home and reminding us that they’re real people with real bills, real moms, and real neighbors who complain about them performing too loud.

In conclusion, there are lots of ways to support those musicians who are keeping us sane right now, but also hopefully helps you find more favorite musicians! This list is by no means complete, there are other ways to help I may not have thought of just now, but hopefully this gives you a place to get started. Good luck out there everyone! Stay safe and wash your hands!

Written by ::

Wayne Moots

Manor Team Member & Blog Contributor.

Manor Records gives 100% of article author rights to Wayne Moots.