During these times of social distancing and self-isolation due to COVID-19, people have been looking for ways to fight loneliness. Some have resorted to finding ways to fight isolation, virtually, watching their favorite musicians, singers, DJs and other performers utilize their talents to livestream on Instagram and other social media platforms.
It has been astonishing to see how many people have used music as therapy during the past two weeks, a board-certified music therapist said.
“Think of [music] as an anchor, a connection to what was, to the routine, to the structure, to the safety of what we knew just a few weeks ago. It feels normal, secure, and safe. Any sense of safety, in this time of the unknown is going to be very important to us,” Debra Cotterall, music therapist and owner of A to G Music Therapy, said via email.
On Tuesday, March 17, Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, hosted a free virtual show on Instagram.
During the show, Martin took a break from singing and said, “Let me tell you how it is here, it is strange, nobody is really going anywhere…I feel like the right thing to be doing is staying home and not buying too much toilet paper.”
Martin’s performance was first in a virtual music series called Together At Home, put on by Global Citizen and the World Health Organization (WHO). The series featured a diverse group of music artists who aimed to bring people together and call for funding for the campaign, COVID-19 Solidarity Response.
According to the WHO website, the fund will ensure patients get the care that they need and essential workers get necessary supplies. Essential workers has come to be a commonly used term to describe workers who are critical to maintaining and repairing infrastructure.The money raised by the fund is also intended to accelerate efforts to develop vaccines, tests and treatments for the virus.
Many other artists such as John Legend, Charlie Puth, Shawn Mendez feat. Camila Cabello, Hozier, One Republic and Ziggy Marley joined in on the series to perform and raise money for the COVID-19 Solidarity Response.
Other artists and performers may not have been part of the Together At Home series but were still live streaming, despite lost profits due to concert, show and gig cancellations.
We Came as Romans, a metalcore band, was supposed to perform a show on March 15 at the Theatre of Living Arts, TLA, in Philadelphia but the show was postponed due to the virus. In many cases, performers lose money because tickets are to be refunded when shows are cancelled.
Some artists may have had different intentions for performing virtually but were bonded by one theme, reaching others through music.
“Some basic benefits [of music] include connection to others and important memories, improved mood, anxiety reduction, increased relaxation, grounding, [and] increased energy,” Cotterall said.
Paul D. DelVecchio also known as DJ Pauly D, Jersey Shore reality TV show star and celebrity DJ, hosted a virtual show on Facebook on Friday, March 20. DelVecchio made over 11.5 million in 2019 in DJing alone, but did not draw a profit from this show. Instead, he said the intention of his virtual streaming was to keep the public entertained during this time of social distancing and self-isolation.
“Emotionally, I think it’s important for all of us to recognize that what is going on right now is, to a degree for each of us, traumatic,” Cotterall said. “The easiest way to combat trauma due to isolation is to seek its counterpoint which is connection! Music provides a powerful connection between individuals whether they are physically together or not.”
