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Alma Licona

Judith R. McCann

English 1301 Section 129

2 November 2022

COVID-19 and the Impact on Music

From late 2019 to now, COVID-19 has impacted the world. It has been 3, almost 4,

years now since it first started in China. When the pandemic was new to everyone, the news was

flooded with death reports, and they stated how many people, businesses, and industries had

been affected by this pandemic. It has been a year since the world went back to “normal”.

However, during those 3 years, not much was shared to the public about the big impact

COVID-19 had on music. That is why Janis Denk, Alexa Burmester, Michael Kandziora, and

Michel Clement performed this study; using logos, pathos, and ethos the authors argue how

much the consumption of music has been affected by COVID-19.

To begin with, the authors start to prove their statement by using logos. Logos requires

the author to use logical arguments like statistics, facts, reasonable arguments, and information.

The most obvious fact the authors mentioned was the pandemic itself; since COVID-19 impacted

every individual worldwide, the effects it left are known, seen, and felt by everyone. It does not

require any further proof to be known as a fact. The second time the authors utilizes logos are the

surveys that were distributed and performed by the 3,365 participants; Although the 3,365

participants are not the whole population, it represented the citizens of Germany. After the

surveys were conducted and recieved, the writers were able to acquire and issue the readers the

percentages of just how much the consumption of music decreased due to COVID-19. Besides

the rates, the researchers also provided tables and figures to the audience. Some of the provided
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tables and figures contain data obtained from various worldwide famous apps and services like

Spotify, Apple Music, Facebook, and the radio. Within these services, the researchers checked

the statistics for premium streaming, free streaming, physical copies, digital downloads, radios,

and online radios. They, once again, divided the information into two sections and labeled them

pre-COVID and post-COVID. The rest of the tables seperate the information from into seasons

in years; starting from winter of year 2018/ 2019 to winter of year 2020/ 2021. The figures, on

the other hand, allow the audience to see the graphs of the total market, live market, recorded

market, premium streaming, physical copies, digital downloads, free streaming, radios, online

radios, no spending, and no consumption. Aside from the tables and figures, a set of equations

were given. These equations were used to find consumer spending and music consumption.

Providing the five equations helps the audience know how the authors got the statistics that they

got. It gives credibility to the statistics given to the audience. Overall, the author used logos by

providing the audience with statistics, facts, and the organization of ideas in order to argue and

prove the impact the pandemic had on music.

Not only did the authors use logos to prove their argument but they also used

pathos. Pathos, in an argument, is the use of emotions in order to persuade the public. Compared

to logos, there are only a few instances where the authors decided to use pathos; they first used

pathos when they mentioned that industries had suffered. Due to the worldwide virus, many

businesses and public spaces, like hotels, airlines, restaurants, gyms, and stores, closed down

their services leaving people inside their homes. Although a business can not exactly have

emotions, the authors personified the businesses and made it seem as if they were suffering

making the audience feel emotion; in addition, the audience can also feel emotions by

remembering how they felt when they were quarantined at home. The other times the researchers
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used pathos was actually within the studies that were made. One of the main factors that they

used was the participant’s behavior before and after the pandemic. It was also mentioned that the

closure of public spaces, like the ones mentioned above, affected the mood of the consumer

which led to a decline in the consumption of music; this could later have a negative impact on

the market. The authors also took into consideration the participant's feelings and appreciation

toward music. Since music was a big element people used to cope with the pandemic, it is safe to

say that their appreciation for music increased during this time; hence, it was used in this study.

The use of pathos was, as declared previously, not as much as logos. However, the authors,

successfully used pathos to argue and persuade the audience about their stance.

In addition to this, ethos was also used by the authors in the article. Ethos appeals to

credibility; in other words, the authors have to be clear and credible to the audience to earn their

trust. They can do so by using quotes from professionals, customer reviews, or personal

qualifications. For instance, the authors mention that this study was approved by the Dean of

Research from the Business School of the University of Hamburg; they also explain that it was

financed by the City of Hamburg and all the major players in the German music industry. By

providing this information, the public can be reassured that what is being given are facts.

Another form of credibility is the consent the participants had to give for the surveys. The

authors explain that all surveys had to be conducted through a professional research company.

Through Respondi, the research company, the participants had to agree and give consent. Once

the survey was done, Respondi would review it before distributing it. The authors, besides

providing the audience with credibility, made sure to establish trust with the audience by

mentioning the limitations of their study. First of all, the surveyed preferences of the participants

depend on whether they can recall behavior. Second, the responses obtained from the five online
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surveys can be manipulated. Third, this study is only based in Germany; nonetheless, Germany is

the world’s fourth-largest market in terms of revenue. Fourth, the data focuses on the spending in

the music market; hence, it can not obtain data from private events. Fifth, some participants,

mostly women, dropped out of the study, so the data is not fully representative. The sixth and

final limit is that a conclusion can not be derived from the data. While yes, the research

information was limited, it is good to be honest and let the public know that there is further

research that still has to be done; it creates trust with the audience.

To summarise, the news always mentioned how much businesses and industries

were affected by COVID-19. However, the impact the pandemic had on music was insignificant

to many people. With this article, the authors argue that there indeed was a huge impact on the

music market. Using logos, pathos, and ethos, the authors proclaim how much the consumption

of music declined because of COVID-19.

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Work Cited

Denk, Janis, et al. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Music Consumption and Music Spending."

PLoS One, vol. 17, no. 5, 2022. ProQuest,

https://go.openathens.net/redirector/tamiu.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly

-journals/impact-covid-19-on-music-consumption-spending/docview/2686248685/se-2,

doi:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0267640.