{"id":2456316,"date":"2020-03-25T21:45:56","date_gmt":"2020-03-26T03:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=972558"},"modified":"2020-03-25T21:45:56","modified_gmt":"2020-03-26T03:45:56","slug":"the-coronavirus-stimulus-bill-gives-the-music-industry-a-fighting-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/music-news\/the-coronavirus-stimulus-bill-gives-the-music-industry-a-fighting-chance\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coronavirus Stimulus Bill Gives the Music Industry a Fighting Chance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From songwriters to producers to roadies, individuals in the various corners of the music business will be eligible for federal relief under the coronavirus<\/a> stimulus package passed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday evening, thanks to music advocates in Washington in the last few days.<\/p>\n

Under the final $2 trillion relief package, self-employed musicians, songwriters, and music support crew who make under $100,000 annually are eligible to apply for relief grants and loans such as emergency economic injury disaster loan (EIDL) grants. (The Senate approved its bill late Wednesday and the House is expected to confirm its counterpart on Thursday.) The stimulus deal \u2014 the largest in American history \u2014 also includes a bundle of other programs assisting small businesses, contractors, individuals with student loans, and unemployed workers, which can put more cash in music-industry workers\u2019 pockets.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s what this boils down to me: They\u2019re going to be eligible for loans and grants and possibly forgiveness of those loans if they can\u2019t make up the income at the end of the year,\u201d Bart Herbison, executive director of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and a main proponent of the bill, tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cAs urgent as the Music Modernization Act was<\/a>, this is more urgent. This is going to save careers. This is going to give the workers, the creators of music, a support system \u2014 it\u2019s going to help them sustain the jobs. We\u2019re talking about tens of thousands of people. This is a local nightclub performer, a sound engineer, a recording artist, everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Herbison says conversations kicked off when he received a call last week from Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), the chair of the \u201cSongwriters\u2019 Caucus\u201d \u2014 a small group that handles music-industry concerns \u2014 in the U.S. House of Representatives. As Congress<\/a> began talks of a stimulus package for Americans to combat the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the caucus realized the music industry, which includes thousands of independent workers thrown into panic by the shutdown of live events but ineligible for unemployment benefits, would be largely excluded from the deal. Herbison\u2019s group worked with fellow music advocacy groups Songwriters of North America (SONA) and the National Music Publishers\u2019 Association (NMPA) to insert language that makes sure \u201cself-employed, sole proprietors, and independent contractors\u201d are covered under the stimulus package\u2019s clauses.<\/p>\n

For the past week, the NSAI, NMPA, and SONA worked closely with Deutch and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) \u2014 who spearheaded the Senate\u2019s version of Deutch\u2019s efforts \u2014 along with other members of Congress to push the music-inclusive stimulus deal in both chambers of the legislative body.<\/p>\n

Herbison says that though the airline and travel industries were hit first by the coronavirus outbreak, the music industry spiraled into crisis as soon as live events began shutting down across the country. \u201cI heard from songwriters saying, \u2018I\u2019ve just lost $14,000 of gigs\u2019 and \u2018I literally can\u2019t pay my rent,’\u201d Herbison says. \u201cWe had a House Democrat and a Senate Republican signed on board to help us and I\u2019m proud of what we\u2019ve done. This is one of the biggest things we\u2019ve ever done in the 25 years I\u2019ve been director of the NSAI.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement to Rolling Stone<\/em>, NMPA\u2019s president and CEO David Israelite said his group is \u201cgreatly relieved\u201d that the emergency stimulus package can help songwriters, composers, and musicians across the country. \u201cFrom paycheck protection and stimulus checks to grants that help with rent and mortgage payments, the legislation will help the creative community \u2014 particularly those who qualify as independent contractors, sole proprietors and self-employed \u2014 who have been hit hard by this pandemic,\u201d Israelite said.<\/p>\n

SONA, which represents songwriters and composers, said in a separate statement that the COVID-19<\/a> crisis has \u201ccrippled\u201d the music industry and \u201cwe are grateful to members of Congress for understanding that songwriters, composers and many others who make a living within the music industry are small business owners,\u201d said Michelle Lewis, SONA\u2019s executive director. \u201cThis will make much-needed relief in the form of small business loans and grants available to all who need it.\u201d Attorney Dina LaPolt<\/a>, a board member of the group and major player in the new legislation, added that the U.S. represents one-third of the global music industry and \u201cwe need laws that protect creators and ensure that they are protected from economic destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill approved by the Senate Wednesday also includes a $25 million package for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in D.C., as well as $75 million for the $75 million for the National Endowment for the Arts.<\/p>\n

Catch up with Rolling Stone\u2019s earlier reporting on how the coronavirus pandemic has upended the music industry here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

From songwriters to producers to roadies, individuals in the various corners of the music business will be eligible for federal relief under the coronavirus stimulus package passed by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday evening, thanks to music advocates in Washington in the last few days. Under the final $2 trillion relief package, self-employed musicians, songwriters, […]<\/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":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2456316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-23 21:28:07","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":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2456316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456316\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2456316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2456316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2456316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}