During covid times nearly everyones lives have been completely flipped upside-down. Many people now do their work from home and everyone is overwhelmed with zoom meetings. Musicians lives may have been one of the most affected professions in the world. Pre Covid musicians were generally busy folks, rushing from one rehearsal to the next and squeaking in practice time and meals in between. We would attend concerts and masterclasses constantly being surrounded by all types of live music. Unfortunately we took these times for granted, now we are lucky if we get to have an in person rehearsal, or lessons let alone a performance or a concert. This has posed a serious problem for professional musicians, many of us rely on pay checks from performances, and lessons of all varieties. However there are still a few creative ways musicians are finding to share there music with the world. Many musicians have started to use social media platforms such as Instagram, Youtube, or Twitter to live stream concerts around the world. Some musicians charge a fee to receive a link to the performance, others make an optional donation link. One of the biggest challenges I think musicians face is that it can feel awkward asking for money for a live streamed concert. Musicians tend to love to play their instrument and love to perform, we often practice everyday. Live streaming a performance can feel a bit like practicing, you’re just in your living room with no one but a camera recording. I think this can make musicians feel like they’re not providing a complete enough musical experience to merit payment. I think the best way for musicians to overcome this sense of guilt would be to donate a percentage of your proceeds to charity, Such as the black lives matter mouvement or environmental charities.  By donating a portion of your profits to charity musicians are not only able to regain some of the income lost during the pandemic, but they are able to help support an important cause and provide music to the audience; It’s a Win, Win, Win situation. Live streaming concerts is also extremely beneficial to musicians for exposure; it allows people from all over the globe to watch your performance as opposed to in person concerts, which can only have so many people, usually from the same city. This sends your music to many different corners of the world, and who knows maybe you’ll get lucky and go viral on tik tok and get a sony deal 🙂