Turnstile at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles

By Jordan Edwards

Turnstile were nominated for three Grammy Awards earlier this month, capping an unlikely two-year rise to become one of America’s biggest bands. But was it really out of nowhere?

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Grant Spanier/Courtesy of the Artist

Name a musician,producer, or DJ with a full band that can fill Avant Gardner’s Kings Hall on a rainy Sunday night in Brooklyn.

The answer is Bonobo.

Bonobo (aka Simon Green) is currently on the North American leg of his Fragments tour. The five-time GRAMMY-nominee is on the road with his full band – yes, including trumpets, drums, vocals, guitars, and keys.

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Live music was one of the first cultural casualties of COVID back in early 2020.

Before the United States was a hotbed for anti-mask, anti-lockdown disinformation — and the surge of cases and deaths that have come along with that — before we had registered any notable outbreak at all, concerts and music festivals were already being canceled. And with the slow pace of vaccine rollout, a date for their return is still a long way off.

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Music Features

Dr. Fauci Says Live Music Could Return This Fall

"By the time we get to the early to mid-fall, you can have people feeling safe performing onstage as well as people in the audience," Dr. Fauci said.

Aside from those who crowded a fated Chainsmokers concert in the Hamptons last summer, music fans in the United States are going on a year without a typical live music experience.

Though livestreams and drive-ins have been able to hold most of us over in the meantime, social distancing regulations have taken a big emotional toll on concert goers — not to mention the financial burdens it's ravaged on artists as well as independent venues, which are closing by the numbers nationwide. Things might be looking up by the end of 2021, though.

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This Saturday at 3PM EST, Popdust will be hosting our first ever livestreamed music festival.

Check out the show on Facebook Live (RSVP here!), grab a free ticket on Eventbrite, or register on Zoom.

Check out our excellent lineup:

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MUSIC

How to Help Musicians in the Age of the Coronavirus

South by Southwest is canceled and Coachella is postponed, but smaller artists don't have sick leave.

The World Health Organization recently declared that the coronavirus had spread enough that the outbreak can officially be considered a pandemic.

The impact of the virus isn't just physical; self-containment advisories mean that music festivals are taking the hit. Many events have been canceled in the wake of coronavirus.Austin's South by Southwest, the Australian Bushfire Relief Concert in Melbourne, and Ultra Music Festival are just a few that have been called off entirely, while Coachella and its sister country festival Stagecoach are being postponed until October. Though it's better to be safe than sorry as the coronavirus ravages the U.S., musicians—primarily independent touring artists—are taking a huge hit.

Because streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music pretty much pay artists in pennies, many smaller bands rely on live events for their income, from ticket sales and merch profits to exposure that'll hopefully reap benefits in the future. As "festival season" becomes virtually festival-less and artists also cancel tours due to coronavirus-related fears, a vicious cycle ensues: You have to make money to be able to tour, but you have to tour to be able to make money (not to mention artists often don't have health insurance or paid sick leave from their day jobs).

As fans, we can help! Here are a few small ways that can help out your favorite band during these trying times.

Buy Their Music

This is a no-brainer. According to CNBC, artists typically earn between $0.006 to $0.0084 per stream on Spotify. That means that one hundred streams of your favorite song earns that artist less than a dollar. Streaming has done wonders for artist discovery, but in order for those bands to actually make music, you have to go about it the old fashion way: actually buy their music. Googling the artist will likely bring up a link to their webstore, where you should be able to buy physical and digital copies of their albums.


Head to Bandcamp

Bandcamp is perhaps the most artist-friendly streaming site out there. Besides being a great platform to discover your new favorite band or underground artist, when you purchase something from Bandcamp, 80-85 percent of your money goes to the artist directly. It's a pretty sweet deal. If you're feeling extra generous, you can even pay above the minimum price, too.

Show Labels Love, Too

Indie labels do a ton of work, and they deserve your love, too. Check out what labels your favorite smaller artists are signed to—you can see on Spotify when you're looking at an album. They'll likely have merch, as well. Let them know you appreciate their hard work!

Donate, If You Can

This one extends beyond music artists, but many creators also have a Patreon to help fund themselves. If you feel compelled to donate, give a few bucks to an artist/performer who would normally be making live appearances right now.


Spread the Word

Are the people in your circle big music fans? Even if you don't have the cash to shell out on merch or digital copies of music right now (we get it), use social media to get a conversation going about how the coronavirus is negatively impacting musicians, especially right now. Their work is hard, so let's try to make it a little easier for them.