Nigerian music concerts go on despite omicron

The Omicron variant initially raised doubts about whether events would be halted in December, however, artists and event organizers have found a way to circumvent these doubts by going ahead with hosting music events. They do this by putting in place government Covid protocols to ensure safer public gatherings thereby preventing missing out on the huge revenue generated by these concerts.

A recent report by WorldRemit has stated that most Nigerians spent 196 percent of their monthly income during Christmas and some of those revenue goes into music concerts as it has become sort of a tradition for some music fans at the end of the year to unwind and spend time with their favourite music artist who would be hosting live events or performing at sponsored shows.

Last year, Covid19 was a big factor in the postponement of music events, causing artists to miss out on the huge revenue during the holiday season. This year, music artists and show organizers are hoping to recoup revenue from music concerts, which are a big source of income for both musicians and show organizers who only have this time of year to cash in on music lovers.

Even with regulations such as a maximum capacity of just 60 percent, show organizers are still on track to make a profit because ticket sales are expected to be double what they were in prior years. Regular concert ticket costs range from N10,000 to N50,000, depending on the size of the musician hosting or performing.

Lolade of The Lagos Weekender, an event and lifestyle blog in Lagos spoke with Businessday when asked about the effect of covid restrictions on the revenue of music concerts, “I don’t think there is a reduction in revenue because there has been a significant increase in price of tickets, 2 people attending Flytime Wizkid show is N100,000 (N50,000 per ticket), 2 years ago, that was the price of 10 people or 20 people if it was N5000. I also believe It also pays them better because they don’t have to worry about overcrowded venues. even at the increased price, it is possible that events will still be at maximum capacity because Nigerians will still buy them. Everyone is stressed and wants to have fun this December, ‘go for rocks’ as they say,” she said.

Read also: Omicron: Moderna booster jabs 37% effective

Remaining anonymous, one of the attendees of one of the concerts held at Victoria Island in Lagos spoke to BusinessDay saying that despite covid 19 restrictions, concert organizers will still make top earnings “ From my point of view I think they sold a reasonable amount of tickets, although there are factors that contribute to them selling less I don’t think they run at a loss because there are other shows that same night and covid restrictions too which they must have put into consideration from the inception of the planning of the event,” said the attendee.

“They must have gotten several investors; these artists have the number and the followers so the brands that partner with them must have paid these artists or the organizers to help amplify their platform during these events, and also they’ll get more exposure and data during the course of paying for tickets online and attending the events,” he added.

Organizing a music event is no easy task as it not only create big budget spending to organize a successful show but also creates jobs doing so. Some of the things put in place by organizers include booking venues, productions, renting sound systems, screens, stage lighting, making sure there is constant power by getting huge power generators, food and drinks, standby medical ambulances, mobile toilets, security bounces, and ushers, and with COVID rules and regulations conducting Rapid Diagnostic Test (Antigen) at the event venue, facemasks, body temperature checkers and sanitizers would also have to be provided in their full numbers.

Booking a venue alone either at a popular event center in Victoria island for instance or at the beach ranges from N1 million to N10 million.

Even though there may not be Rapid Diagnostic Test centers on-site, proof of vaccinations, or provisions of at least 48 hours of a negative covid test result at some of these events attended by BusinessDay representatives, there are strict enforcements of facemask use at all times, and most notably the population of fans who attend is 60 percent or lower of the event center’s original capacity.

Speaking with BusinessDay Mariam Abass, Talent Manager, Director of Malc Agency mentioned that having just 60 percent of the venue’s capacity was intentional because of the Omicron variant and the Lagos state guideline to concert organizers.

“We also have to be very mindful that we are in a pandemic and there are new rules that we have to adhere to, for example, we could only use  60% of the capacity of the venue due to the Lagos state government rules. We also wanted to make sure that it was a safe space for people to move around freely without being into each other’s faces too much to reduce any chances of the COVID spreading. Then we made sure you know everybody had face masks going in. And when you’ve got face masks on the last thing you want is to be in a tight space, you know, you can get very claustrophobic and hard for some people to breathe. So we just wanted the space to be big enough for everybody to spread around. And just have a great experience rather than focusing on the ego matrix,” Abass said.