June 11, 2021
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Friday, July 24, 2020
‘Save Our Stages Act’ May Provide Economic Relief for Music Venues
(Source: National Independent Venue Association)
The “Save Our Stages Act,” a bipartisan bill that aims to provide economic relief for independent music venues affected by COVID-19, was introduced to the United States Congress earlier this week. The bill was co-authored by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Cornyn (R-TX) in response to concerns raised by the National Independent Venue Association.
The bill calls for $10 billion, spread over the next six months, to be made available in the form of Small Business Administration grants. Applicants will be eligible for up to 45% of their 2019 operating costs or $12 million, whichever is less.
In order to reserve funds for those hit hardest by the pandemic, the “Save Our Stages Act” strives to “narrowly define independent live venue operators, promoters, and talent representatives to prevent large, international corporations from receiving federal grant funding.”
According to concert industry publication Pollstar, venues are at risk of losing a combined $8.9 billion in revenue if they were to remain closed for the rest of the year. NIVA’s Adam Hartke issued a statement, saying:
“While existing government assistance programs have helped other industries, they weren’t tailored to meet the needs of small businesses like ours that have zero revenue, enormous overhead and no visibility into when we can fully re-open. The Save Our Stages Act will provide the assistance we need to get through the shutdown until we can reopen safely and once again become the economic generators for our communities that we’ve always been.”
H/T: Rolling Stone
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