Save Our Stages Festival - Everything You Need to Know
/The Music Industry has been completely shut down for touring artists, touring crews, venues, and promoters since March 2020. In 2019, the touring industry had one of its strongest years in history, and then in 2020, it went to a complete stop. Thousands of people are out of work with benefits running out, independent venues and businesses are closing down and will never come back. The majority of the independent venues and touring businesses will not survive this beyond December of 2020.
On Friday, October 16 the National Independent Venues Association has organized one of the biggest virtual music festivals in history. For three days, some of the biggest names in music will be performing at some of America’s most legendary and historic independent music venues. The festival includes artists such as Foo Fighters, Miley Cyrus, The Roots, Major Lazer, Dave Matthews, Reba McEntire, The Lumineers, and many more.
They will be performing live from 17 different cities in 23 different venues giving people from around the world over 23 hours worth of live music. These concerts will take place in historic venues such as The Troubadour in Los Angeles, CA, First Avenue in Minneapolis, MN, The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN, the Apollo Theater in New York City, Center Stage in Atlanta, GA, Tipitina’s in New Orleans, LA, and many more.
The National Independent Venue Association was formed shortly after the shutdown began and has a group of over 2,000 independent music venues and businesses in all 50 states that joined the organization. They are working with Senators and Representatives to fight for long term assistance for shuttered business, relief through tax credits, and continued unemployment insurance benefits. Our concert industry was the first industry to completely shut down and it will be the last industry to completely reopen. Current forecasts are projecting that the touring industry will not be back to normal until the Fall of 2020.
In the current situation close to 90% of the 2,000 members of the National Independent Venues Association might not survive beyond December of 2020. Imagine over 1,500 venues closing it’s doors forever. There have been close to 100 venues that have already closed its doors for good. Some of which have been around for over 100 years. Concerts bring people from all walks of life together and create moments that will be in our memories forever. The concert industry needs you.
There are several ways to support the efforts of the National Independent Venues Association. You can go to SaveOurStages.org and contribute to the Emergency Relief Fund, which is also where all the money raised from the Save Our Stages Festival will go. This fund will assist with things such as retaining workers and giving them the ability to provide for their families, giving venues assistance with rent and mortgages, emergency planning and staff training to provide a safe place for future concert-goers, as well as additional security protocols. PPE items, COVID-19 venue upgrades, and much more.
Another way to help is to write to your US Senators and congressperson in regards to two different bipartisan bills that have been presented in Congress to support these independent venues and businesses. The first is the Save Our Stages Act which has been included in the Heroes Act, which is the next COVID Relief stimulus package. . Both parties are currently negotiating the details of the Heroes Act, and will be included. Write to your senators and congressperson to let them know that you want to make sure that Save Our Stages is not one of the things that is taken out from the Heroes Act. Then there is also the RESTART Act which are Government loans for small business to help prevent them from having to shut down.
If you want to protect live music, your local music venues, and independent businesses that are focused on creating lifelong memories, we need your help. Go to SaveOurStages.org to learn more and to take action. And join millions of people from October 16 for three days to enjoy some of our favorite artists, as they come together to support independent business, and create memories once again with a virtual performance.
