John,

I have watched so many things hit the "live industry" even before the pandemic, that has driven it nearly into the ground.

In the 80's, karaoke came in and became a huge factor in dialing back live bands, duos, or singles. Let the crowd be the show.

That led to Karaoke contests, which became a huge money deal when American Idol and the voice "Legitimized Kareoke" nights. Movies, TV shows, etc. exploded celebrating the amateur singers in the population.

Contests became a huge deal in every type of entertainment, thereby cutting down the nights where professionals could actually make any money. And since there were more people now doing it, (The Internet exploded with performers) the amount of money that any venue would offer was nothing or next to nothing.

The cost of liability insurance, drunk driving arrests, increased competition, health and other regulations, all drove the cost of doing business up and the ability to pay for entertainment down.

The costs of going out increased by huge multiples, for average families or individuals, so it became fewer and farther between, and the threat of losing your liscence, your car, insurance, etc, by DUI arrests for even a small amount of alcohol in a system, weeded out many people.

Subscription services or streaming with constant music, replacing live music. ANd people who were losing the connection with the "live" context in the first place.

The general population who can get endless music on their computers, easy access even from the major artists.

Costs of concert tickets, etc. going out.

Societal upheaval, causing rips in the entire culture Going out to dinner to have a group of people surround and attack cars, assault people at resturants, mayhem and riots, property and physical destruction, will have an overall effect on venues, entertainers, and ability to conduct music.

The latest thing that had happened before the pandemic was venue after venue being sued by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC, for venues lacking proper payments for liscencing music. As money has dissapeared in other sections due to streaming, the PRO's have tried to make it up by going after many places, mostly smaller Mom and Pop venues, many of which are barely hanging on to begin with. If it comes down to paying employees, food and alcohol costs, liability insurance, rent, water, etc. the last thing to be paid is going to be entertainers. And if you are letting them play original music, paying them for that through increased fees is not even on the radar screen. So venue after venue have dropped paying the PRO's one by one. Again, since there are less and less venues and more and more writer/artists, the ability to get paid slowly ebbs away and dissapears.

Similar things are going to happen in television and film. As more go to alternative venues, productions, and more content is added, viewership gets more and more displaced, and spread out, the payments for that type of music will decline as well. Again, more people putting more and more product into the pipeline, different production companies, the less and less money they are going to pay.

Supply and demand never stops. More supply, more dissipated damand, and the amount of money paid is going to decline. Same as streaming has done. Just a matter of time.

So, as I said, I unforunately believe that we are headed for a time when all, or most of music is completely free. It;s something that all writers have to prepare for. A sad but true sign of the times.

MAB