When she could not rely on tour dates anymore, singer/songwriter Haley McCallum turned to a new platform to steady her income: the pay-what-you-will subscription service Patreon, which brings songs and livestream events directly to her most devoted fans via the internet.
This was last year, though, before all hell broke loose.
Since the stay-at-home order to slow the spread of the coronavirus went into effect last month, most musicians have been scrambling to find similar direct channels to their audiences.
"I do feel like I had set myself up for this moment," said the St. Paul-based indie rocker, who performs as simply Haley. "There's so much uncertainty and challenge for all of us [musicians], but hopefully something helpful might come of this."
It's hard for anyone in the music industry to find a silver lining at the moment. But creating new revenue and promotional channels via the internet — and maybe even having fun and sparking creativity while doing it — could be one faintly positive effect of the stay-at-home order.
With album sales declining steeply in the digital-streaming era, live performances became by far the primary source of revenue for musicians over the past decade. Thus, most of them saw their incomes suddenly come to a halt when venues across the country shut down last month.
Many musicians are now turning to fans on the internet to help offset steep losses, with mixed results.
"Nothing is going to replace the live shows, but for now we all have to do something to survive," said Lars Pruitt of Yam Haus.