Delano’s sister publication Paperjam met with CEOs, chairmen and managers to find out how they dealt with the health crisis from the very beginning. They look back on this period that shook the business world in many ways.

Julien Carette: Tell us about March 2020... what was going on?

Michel Welter:  We immediately realised the seriousness of what was happening. And how it would impact us. We are used to seeing sweat dripping down the walls of our venue, if you know what I mean. So a virus that is transmitted by 'droplets' was bound to impact us. And it hit us in the face. As I recall, the first concerts were cancelled even before there was a law in place. The minister was just giving 'notices'. And that annoyed us a lot. Because when you decide to cancel a performance of your own free will, you still have to pay the bill out of pocket. I was still rather optimistic, telling myself that we would have problems in March and April, but that everything would be finished by the summer of 2020. But another partner, Steve Wohl, was much more realistic. It's in his nature. And right from the start, he said we could forget about it...

We’ve had over 200 concerts postponed or cancelled. We're probably close to 300, but I must admit that I've stopped counting them, which is not a good sign...

Michel Welter, managing partner, den Atelier

How many concerts did you postpone or cancel in the first few weeks?

It started with the postponement of one event by German rapper Kontra K. Because, from the beginning, we wanted to be super cautious. It was an event that was supposed to attract 4,000 people to the Rockhal, in a closed hall. Then it was extended. Over a week, a month, three months, etc.

And today, how many gigs have been cancelled?

It's well over 200, probably close to 300, but I must admit that I've stopped counting them, which isn't really a good sign…There are too many. Some have now been postponed three or four times.

In terms of your staff, how has it been?

Since 2015, when we had big financial worries and had to restructure everything, we’ve had two companies. On the one hand, A -Promotions, which takes care of the booking, marketing, organisation of concerts, etc. and on the other, Den Atelier, which is more related to our venue. In all, we employ eight people and there have been no departures. Right away, we had the reflex to ask the public authorities for help. The whole team was put on partial unemployment.

We also thought that what could kill a private company with activities like ours was the fixed costs. So we tried to reduce our costs as much as possible. At the same time, we quickly realised that we would have to move in a new direction…

You mean you changed your business model?

Yes. Normally we like to take risks. For example, we used to cover all the costs of the events we organised, financing them through ticket sales. But with the health crisis, in addition to being very limited in terms of available artists, we saw ticketing drop drastically. So very quickly, it became clear that it was going to be impossible to operate normally…

So we started to think about other solutions. We contacted certain public authorities to see if they were interested in organising events. And we started to co-organise with them. This is something we did not do before. This was the case, for example, with the Péitenger Carena, the drive-in concerts held in Petange. And in addition, we took another new route, by forming partnerships with other event organisers, such as the Trifolion in Echternach or Opderschmelz in Dudelange.

With these two new paths, the profitability is much lower for a workload that is almost equivalent to before. But the risks are much lower. And it was so great to be able to get our staff off the dole for a few days or weeks.

Do you want to keep these new business ideas for the future?

Yes. Everyone wants to keep it going. They bring a very reassuring side. So we're going to continue them, while at the same time organising our own events, on which we take more risk.

The Ministry of culture told us that it couldn't give us aid because we were a limited liability company and not a non-profit organisation. This was a big blow to us.

Michel Welter, managing partner, l'Atelier

How do you survive financially in times like the current pandemic?

At the beginning, it was very difficult. Because there was no more income, and it takes time to curb costs a little. But the moment that hurt the most was in the autumn of 2020, with the second lockdown. Everyone then went back to work. And at the same time, the ministry of culture made us fill out a file to obtain aid, in the same way as public establishments that had lost their activities and could ask for an additional boost to their annual budget. But the same ministry told us that it could not support us because we were a limited liability company (sàrl) and not a non-profit association (asbl). This is a dialogue we had already had with them when we were organising the Rock-A-Field festival... But here it was a big blow. A lot of other people in the field have received support, and we have received nothing, apart from €10,000 as a 'cultural café'.

Frankly, I was very afraid that we would have to close down. We were really gambling on our survival, even though we felt that we would be leaving for a long period of time without any great professional prospects... With this question in mind: how can you maintain a company without really having any activities?

What happened then?

The government and the minister for the middle classes, Lex Delles (DP), came up with a new aid package partly intended for the event industry: compensation for costs not covered by the activity. And there we were right on target. I have to tell you that when we received the first grants for November 2020 in March 2021 with retroactive effect, it was a huge relief. It was vital for us. It made us feel better. At the beginning of the crisis, we felt that we were falling between the cracks of the net set up by the state to help companies, but from that moment on, we really felt supported. Today, thanks to this aid, but also to the reserves from which we have already largely drawn, we are in a position to continue.

However, the crisis has highlighted the appalling inequalities that can exist in our field, between the institutions with agreements and those without. Frankly, it is very good that the state has set up all the cultural infrastructures that exist today, but a real in-depth debate is needed on the subject.

You are talking about the fact that the ministry of culture did not support you very much because you were a limited company?

It's not just us. This is the case for all the organisations that have a legal form similar to ours in the cultural sector. And that has to change. During the pandemic, we created the Musical Alliance, which is the federation of professionals in the Luxembourg music world. This is something that did not exist before and was clearly missing. And as a member of the board, I intend to bring this issue up. And I will do everything I can to ensure that the limited companies receive more support.

If we were based abroad rather than in Luxembourg, we would have received more help. The pandemic has re-emphasised this problem.

Michel Welter, managing partner, l'Atelier

If you take a look at what happens abroad, you will see that there is no problem with a ministry of culture helping a limited liability company. But here, where much of culture is institutionalised or state-run, this is the case. Don't get me wrong: once again, I think it's great that the state has done everything for culture. Thanks to the state, we now have an offer that is often superior to what other cities the size of Luxembourg have to offer. But it's no longer possible to have such great inequalities.

If you had been based abroad rather than in Luxembourg, you would have had more support?

Totally! The competition would probably be stronger there, but we would have had more support. The pandemic has re-emphasised this problem. But it was this that caused us to give up organising Rock-A-Field, the festival we organised from 2009 to 2016. Without a grant, it was becoming untenable. The festival scene is such a race, with such huge budgets…

Do you need 2022 to be a good year to get back on track?

We finished 2020 in the red and 2021, if not yet closed, is going the same way. There, everything is at a standstill until the end of February. But we are ready. We have a big programme that we are pushing ahead of us. Between 2016 and the start of the pandemic, we were averaging two and a half events per week. Now, in our 2022 schedules, we are going to eight events per week, sometimes three on the same day!

Isn't that too much?

Yes, it is. But all the venues are in the same situation... We're going to have a demand that will be completely saturated by a plethora of supply.

Doesn't such density risk being detrimental?

Yes, but for a special reason. The concerts on the agenda are of two kinds: those that were booked after the start of the pandemic and those that date from before it. The contracts for the latter are based on audience estimates from before the health crisis. Today, however, the estimates of the number of people in theatres are no longer the same. In October, for example, jazz bassist Avishai Cohen played at the Atelier. We sold 400 tickets, whereas he usually sells out at our venue [i.e. about a thousand spectators, editor's note]. And it was the same for many artists... Where you used to sell out to 700 people, now you only sell out to 400. That's the new situation. And we already know that we will have a deficit on certain events.

Is there no way to cancel?

As I said at the beginning of the interview, if you cancel of your own accord, you still have to pay. So you lose even more. So it requires real mental gymnastics to plan everything. And then you also have to see how the business develops. It's not so much the health measures that frighten me - I have a good feeling about next summer--but rather whether foreign artists, and in particular Americans, will be able to tour normally or not... Before, we worked with a six-month horizon. Now, we work to the rhythm of the laws that are passed. And not only those of our country.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.