By Alyssa Drysdale

The Corona virus has affected a great deal of people including the elderly and sick but it is also starting to impact industries and one such industry that has been struck rather hard across the globe is the music industry.

Artists, such as Glasgow based singer, Paul Michael, knows the power and the strain the virus can have when it comes to work and progressing with his singing career. The 21 year old solo singer says he misses the liveliness of concerts and he constantly feels he is having to do more on his own thanks to the restrictions.

Bands are also starting to feel the stress and one such band is Fuzzy Lop whose lead singer, 21 year old Molly and guitarist Jordan, also 21, are not entirely content with having to do live-streams of their music when they are not comfortable with the technological side of things.

Live-streaming music also does not have the same effect as being at a concert surrounded by fans and people close up.

Jordan said: “Getting that feedback from the crowd is what is missing (from doing live-streams).”

Due to the recent outrage after Chancellor, Rishi Sunak suggested that those struggling to make ends meet in the entertainment industry, specifically musicians, should find themselves a new job.

Molly said “We (musicians) make a lot of money for this country and we are getting no recognition for it. Especially during lockdown, everything that people have turned to during this is art and music.”

This has made artists feel further isolated and feeling as though they are not getting the necessary support to carry on with their work, produce music at a typical high standard and keep their fans and followers happy.

The virus has also had an affect on musicians over in Australia, in particularly in Queensland, where they have been rather lucky with the number of people that have tested positive, yet still have several restrictions that they must follow.

One artist over there is 24 year old Keegan O’Neill who has just started producing and guiding others in making music. He has not felt the strain too much but has had to make several changes to how he makes music.

Keeping in contact with his friends is important too but the virus means that he can not support, nor be supported, by people on a face to face basis.

O’Neill said: “We are mostly just keep each other supported through our friend groups. I just keep sending my friends updates on Facebook Messenger about what I am making and what I am doing and give feedback online.”

It is important for musicians, and other artists, to stay positive as much as possible throughout these harsh times and Michael is trying to do so as he is thinking about doing some soundtracks for Christmas time.

The ‘Thinking about You‘ singer has Spotify where he has plenty of his songs to keep you interested whilst you wait for Christmas.

UWS students interviewed the artists and to hear what they had to say about the current situation, click on the link below:

To have a listen to Australian based singer and producer Keegan O’Neill’s opinions, click below: