Midem, A2IM Indie Week Will Carry On -- Digitally

By Jordan Moreau

By Tom Tapp

By Variety Staff

After two weeks of streaming declines as Americans stayed glued to cable news, music consumers seem to be comfortably sheltered at home with streams growing 2% to 24.8 billion for the week ended April 2, up from 24.3 billion a week before.Yet while stability appears to be emerging, somewhat, for a U.S. music industry paralyzed by the coronavirus, last week's performance was still down 2.9% from 2020’s peak when total streams numbered 25.55 billion.

By Erik Pedersen

Country music stars will come together on Sunday with acoustic performances recorded from their homes for a televised special that will replace the annual Academy of Country Music Awards, which were canceled due to the global coronavirus outbreak.

By Todd Spangler

James Patterson has a history of helping independent bookstores. The best-selling novelist has donated millions in recent years to booksellers, while also giving millions to schools and libraries and literacy programs.

Carrie Underwood and her husband, Mike Fisher, are encouraging everyone to stay at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) unveils the nominees for its 2020 A2IM Libera Awards which, for the first time, will take the form of a virtual ceremony.Chance the Rapper, FKA Twigs, Mavis Staples, Amyl and The Sniffers, Thom Yorke and Tycho are among the shortlisted artists for this year’s show, which coincides with A2IM’s 15th anniversary.The coveted album of the year category will be contested by FKA Twigs, Angel Olsen, Brittany Howard, Orville Peck and Big Thief, while

Taylor Swift hasn’t been spotted casually browsing in record stores over the years quite as often as LP shop-aholic Elton John, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have an equal interest in keeping them open and thriving. Grimey’s, an independent store in her hometown of Nashville, confirmed Thursday that Swift had quietly made a contribution to help out employees during the shop’s coronavirus-related closure.

As the coronavirus pandemic has brought much of the music industry — and most industries — to a standstill, MusiCares has emerged as the leading relief resource for the untold thousands of music professionals impacted by the crisis.

In light of the coronavirus pandemic, the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is moving its two flagship annual events -- Indie Week and the Libera Awards -- online this year.

As movie theaters across the United States remain dark, movie productions stay shuttered and thousands find themselves out of work for the near future, the Motion Picture Association welcomed the passage of federal aid Friday, hoping to bring urgently needed relief to the industry.

In yet another sign of the times, the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) today announced that the 2020 installment of its Indie Week conference — the world’s biggest gathering point specifically for the independent music community — is moving online this year, obviously due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event, which also includes the Libera Awards, celebrating the accomplishments of the indie sector, will still take place June 15-18, 2020.