Share Music & Performing Arts is a Swedish association working on artistic development and inclusion. It works for everyone's right to experience, participate in and practise artistic and cultural activities. Its vision is that everybody should have the opportunity to express themselves artistically in a world where differences are seen as valuable. The association arranges performances and courses across artistic sectors for people with and without disabilities. It had used online tools only once before the pandemic, for a project to include isolated people living in areas with very low population rates. Due to the pandemic, Share Music & Performing Arts organised several online projects. It even prepared a concert online, which was then performed in presence with many musicians coming from different parts of Sweden who had never played together before.
Based in France, VRrOOm is working in the virtual reality industry. With its solutions it helps artists to make their shows accessible to a wide audience. VRrOOm explains that the pandemic helped them to boost innovation and creativity. However, they also state that virtual concerts cannot replace the energy that artists transmit through their faces. For the future, they think hybrid concerts will be the way forward.
Zylia is Polish company (Poznan) that is specialized in volumetric audio recording and post production. They found that, despite the hardship that the pandemic brought to the cultural sector, people working in the sector quickly learned to adapt to the situation also by learning more about new technologies. Zylia believes that times of crisis are a real test for all entrepreneurs to see if they are really creative. Live events that can be recreated in the virtual space will be the future, Zylia believes.
The video summarises the project "COVID cannot stop creativity - Digitalisation in the music sector: a lifetime during the pandemic", which explored how the music sector adapted to restrictive public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, through the smart use of digitalisation and innovation.
Christa Schweng, President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on the occasion of the presentation of the European Commission work programme
The latest economic forecasts show pressing challenges for Europe, with weakened economic growth and inflation remaining at high levels. In order to successfully address them, the Commission's 2023 Work Programme must prioritise the EU's recovery and mitigating the economic, social and societal impacts of the war in Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis.
