The major concert promoter behind TRNSMT Festival has warned that full-scale gigs are unlikely to be able to go ahead in Glasgow - even with a one-metre social distancing rule - until we have a vaccine for Covid-19.
Glasgow based DF Concerts and Events said that major acts are unlikely to want to head out on tour again until the second half of 2021, due to uncertainty over the virus's "long-lasting impact", and that the entire production chain could be impacted.
The Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA) has estimated that £18.5 million worth of losses have already been racked up and around 2,800 jobs are on the line.
Fiona Ellis, DF's business support manager, said: "For me, having one metre social distancing is definitely not back to business in any way, shape or form.
"With one metre social distancing you could get more people into your venue but it would be just such a hard thing to manage logistically.
"One metre is just as difficult as two metres unless you're talking about seated concerts, but a lot of venues aren't set up for that, which reduces capacity even more.
"I can hear conversations happening now that this could be lasting into the middle of next year. Artists that are now coming forward are considering just booking into the latter part of next year. I feel this is going to have a long-time impact on the industry.
"I think we're really going to have to get to the point of having a vaccine before we're going to be back up and running fully.
"There is a concern that music might be getting demonised as unsafe right now. We're going to have to do a lot to ensure there is public confidence that it will be as safe as possible when they do come back."
The news comes after Hydro bosses revealed that the venue could struggle to put on full events until 2022 if social distancing measures are to remain in force.
