{"id":806694,"date":"2020-04-22T15:56:47","date_gmt":"2020-04-22T21:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=988465"},"modified":"2020-04-22T15:56:47","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T21:56:47","slug":"800-music-venues-join-together-to-ask-congressional-leaders-for-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/music-news\/800-music-venues-join-together-to-ask-congressional-leaders-for-aid\/","title":{"rendered":"800 Music Venues Join Together to Ask Congressional Leaders for Aid"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new coalition of independent concert venues from across the country has issued a letter to Congress<\/a> asking legislators for further assistance to cushion the blow they\u2019ve faced as live music has shuttered in wake of the ongoing COVID-19<\/a> pandemic.<\/p>\n

The National Independent Venue Association<\/a>, made up of over 800 prominent venues including the Troubadour in Los Angeles, World Cafe Live in Philadelphia and the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, was founded last week in light of venues\u2019 ongoing need for assistance while their businesses remain closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur passionate and fiercely independent operators are not ones to ask for handouts,\u201d Dayna Frank, NIVA Board President and owner of First Avenue in Minneapolis, said in a statement issued to Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cBut because of our unprecedented, tenuous position, for the first time in history, there is legitimate fear for our collective existence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter, issued to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday, details requests and recommendations based on struggles that have been particularly challenging for concert venues, where closing their doors has cut into virtually all of their revenue.<\/p>\n

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NIVA asked to ensure that the Small Business Administration\u2019s Paycheck Protection Program offered more help for businesses like theirs that are completely shut down and puts them in the greatest need, the association said. Potential revisions would include increasing the program\u2019s loan cap and extending the program until all the affected businesses can resume operations at full capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur businesses were among the first to close as COVID-19 spread across the country, and unfortunately, are also likely to be among the last to reopen,\u201d The letter said. \u201cRecently, leaders in both California and New York expressed skepticism about the return of concerts<\/a> and live events until at least 2021, which means that in order to protect lives, our employees and artists may remain without jobs and we may be without revenue for an entire year or more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other requests include establishing a business recovery grant fund for concert venues and other shuttered businesses, granting various forms of tax relief, and continuing unemployment insurance for contract workers and artists who typically wouldn\u2019t get such protections. NIVA also called on government officials to put more resources toward virus testing and treatments and vaccination, and to create guidelines to help safely reinstate mass gatherings with the eventual reopening process. According to NIVA, its concert venues contribute a total of $10 billion to their local economies each year.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe cultural impact of our venues on our local communities is priceless. We are the steadfast incubators and launch pads for the most popular talent in the world. Our stages give artists like Adele, U2, Keith Urban, Prince, Lizzo, the Eagles, Wu-Tang Clan and Foo Fighters their start,\u201d  the letter said. \u201cThe world could be without the next Lady Gaga, Kenny Chesney, Chance the Rapper or Bruce Springsteen if we cease to exist. Independent venues and promoters are crucial components of the music industry<\/a>\u2019s ecosystem, without whom there will be dire ramifications for artists as fan spending plummets.\u201d<\/p>\n

NIVA\u2019s appeal to Congress is the latest from music industry members; Before the federal government issued the $2 trillion coronavirus aid program, various music and entertainment companies signed a joint letter asking for financial relief. <\/a><\/p>\n

National Independent Venue Association \u2013 Letter to Congress<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Popular on Rolling Stone <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new coalition of independent concert venues from across the country has issued a letter to Congress asking legislators for further assistance to cushion the blow they\u2019ve faced as live music has shuttered in wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The National Independent Venue Association, made up of over 800 prominent venues including the Troubadour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-806694","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-13 07:09:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806694\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}