Around the world we have seen Governments release public health recommendations around COVID-19 and on mass gatherings.
We have seen the cancellation of thousands of concerts, shows and events financially affecting the artists, performers, stage production, crew, venue operators, hospitality workers, managers, booking agents and many many more.
With Eurovision we have seen the cancellation of fan preview parties, pre-party concerts and Eurovision conferences.
News on the fate of Eurovision Song Contest 2020 itself is expected to be announced in the coming days.
In Australia, as of 18 March 2020, we have seen a loss of income of $100 million from all 65,000 cancelled events which has impacted 380,000 people. This information has been complied from artists, performers, production people who have been encouraged to report their losses on ilostmygig.net.au.
All artists will be impacted and we encourage you to support the Australian artists who have supported Eurovision. For many, they may have given up time and gigs to perform at Eurovision or Australia Decides. So it's time for us to repay that support.
Below are all the Eurovision and Australia Decides artists. Do remember that artists who don't have high public profiles will most likely be hit hardest.
Alfie Arcuri
Aydan
Casey Donovan
Courtney Act
Dami Im
Didirri
Electric Fields
Ella Hooper
Guy Sebastian
iOTA
Isaiah Firebrace
Jack Vidgen
Jaguar Jonze
Jessica Mauboy
Jordan-Ravi
Kate Miller-Heidke
Leea Nanos
Mark Vincent
Mitch Tambo
Sheppard
Tania Doko
Vanessa Amorosi
We would like you to consider the following ways to support these artists:
Support with no cost
Stream music: This doesn't cost anything to do (or doesn't have an additional cost other than your subscription). So stream the music of these artists. It may only be a small impact but it is still something if you can't afford to do anything else.
Don't take a refund: Yes you lose money in the grand scheme of things but this doesn't cost you anything right now. If you've already bought a ticket to a show, consider not taking a refund and let the money go back to the artist. Check with ticket providers for more information if it is possible.
Under $3:
Buy a single: Rather than stream, actually buy a single from one of these artists online where you can (eg iTunes)
Under $20:
Buy an album: As above, buy an album either as a download or order a physical copy (yes you can still do this!). Make sure you buy anything through official shopping channels rather than second hand to ensure money goes to the artist
Buy merchandise: Some merchandise (stickers and other items) is really quite cheap to buy and a great way to support the artist
Over $20
Buy big items of merchandise - t-shirts, LPs and anything else they have available.
How to do this
We don't have individual links for every artist for all of these options (this would be WAY too long) but simply google search for things like:
Artist name + merch
Artist name + shop
Buy + artist name + music
Or simply find their official website or check on social media to see what they are promoting.
Other ways you can show support of all artists, Eurovision or not, include:
Be respectful to the artists and performers online
If your artist is on bandcamp you could support them there.
You could support all associated with live acts through a charity called Supportact on https://supportact.org.au/ it is Australia’s only charity that delivers crisis relief services to artists, crew and music workers. There is an option to donate to the COVID19 Emergency Appeal.
We may not be able to control cancellations, but we can control how we support those who need our help.