Comparing the experiences of South African musicians during COVID-19 lockdown: A comparative case study.

Abstract

On 26 March 2020, in response to the rise of COVID-19 cases in South Africa, the government implemented a hard lockdown that saw the closing of all non-essential businesses in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 and to allow hospitals to increase health system readiness. The live music and events industries were one of the first industries to be effected and it will be one of the last industries to bounce back after the lockdown, this has caused various implications to the lives of musicians and the ways they conduct brand building efforts. This comparative case study addresses a lack of research exploring the ways in which musicians were affected by the COVID- 19 lockdown through a South African perspective. Semi-structured interviews were conducted on three South African musicians because of its ability to derive the rich and structured data that was needed to answer the research questions. A deductive thematic analysis revealed that the musicians under study were faced with various emotional and financial effects from the lockdown. The ways in which brand building efforts were effected were similar across all musicians and while the experiences and brand building efforts were quite similar, they had their unique differences.