Jul 28, 2020

“Save Our Stages Act” Hopes to Help Fund Independent Music Venues During COVID-19

The proposal from two senators would provide funding for six months.

Music venues — big and small — are dealing with the wrath of the pandemic in such a way that it's hard to imagine when they'll be allowed to open their doors. Personally, going to a show or any kind of event at a local, independent venue used to be a place where I could escape and forget about the world.

Although, there may be some hope on the horizon.

Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota recently introduced a new relief bill for independent music and entertainment venues struggling to makes ends meet.

“I don’t want to lose music in America."- Senator Amy Klobuchar

The nonprofit organization NIVA (National Independent Venue Association) is "securing financial support to preserve the national ecosystem of independent venues and promoters." The Save Our Stages Act would provide six months of financial support to help “keep venues afloat, pay employees, and preserve a critical economic sector for communities across America.”

“I don’t want to lose music in America,” Senator Amy Klobuchar told Rolling Stone. “It’s one of our most incredible assets, one of the most incredible parts of our culture in America, and one of our most successful exports to the world. It’s not only goodwill to the world, but it also brings in significant revenue to our country and jobs. And you can’t have creative music and allow new artists and people like Prince — before he was a superstar in our state — without venues where they can perform. And you look at this across the country. You think of the Austin music scene. You think about Nashville. You think about California. You think about Minnesota. All these incredible new crops of artists wouldn’t happen if they didn’t have a place to perform.”

Here's how the "Save Our Stages Act" would work:

It would ensure that relief funds only go to small, independent venue operators, promoters and talent reps.
The grant total would be the lesser of $12 million or either 45% of a business’ operation costs from 2019.
The businesses that receive grants would be able to use the money to cover costs obtained during the COVID-19 pandemic — including money to pay for rent, utilities, mortgages, maintenance, administrative costs, taxes, etc.
In addition, the grants would help with expenses that would help venues meet local and federal social distancing guidelines.

The “Save Our Stages Act" showed up close behind the RESTART Act — another the relief bill that was introduced in both the Senate and the House. The RESTART Act isn’t necessarily designed for music venues, but it does focus on businesses with no revenue during the pandemic.