Major Labels Ask Employees to Work From Home Due to Coronavirus

The major record companies are advising employees to telecommute effective immediately due to the coronavirus.

Universal Music Group’s New York staffers are already telecommuting, while a full implementation of all U.S. offices, including Nashville and Los Angeles, will take place by March 18. Offices will remain open but employees are being told to work from home. This follows offices in the U.K. and some European countries that had already switched to telecommuting, following advice from local health authorities.

At Sony Music Group, employees in the New York, Miami and Nashville offices are required to work from home, while Los Angeles staffers may work from home, if they choose.

Warner Music Group staffers in all U.S. offices are working from home starting Thursday (March 12) and the policy becomes mandatory from Monday through at least the end of March. "We believe this decision is in the best interests on our people and that, as global citizens, we have the responsibility to play our part to prevent the spread of COVID-19," the company posted on its Twitter account. "Clearly, we're in uncharted waters here, but one thing that will never change is our dedication to our songwriters, our artists and their music."

Concord enforced mandatory telecommuting starting end of day Friday for all of its offices, including Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Miami, London and Berlin.

The moves come a day after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.

Following that announcement, and as U.S. cases continued to rise, a wave of closures swept across the U.S. and elsewhere, including Live Nation and AEG recommending cessation of all touring and the NBA suspending its season.

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