photo by Caitlin Abrams
First Avenue's Wall of Stars
It’s been a hard-fought battle, but independent music venues finally have something to celebrate: Congress’s new $900 billion coronavirus relief package includes the Save Our Stages Act and establishes a $15 billion SPA grant program for indie establishments. Sen. Amy Klobuchar helped introduce Save Our Stages to the Senate in July, but the effort to shield independent music venues from the economic devastation of the pandemic has been led by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), a national lobbying group that represents more than 3,000 independent venues and promoters across the country and Washington, DC.
Dayna Frank, owner and CEO of First Avenue in Minneapolis, is the NIVA’s president. In early April, as venues across the country shut their doors with no clue as to when they might reopen, venue owners and operators in Minneapolis, New York and Milwaukee became NIVA’s first members. Twenty-nine Minnesota venues signed on, from the metro’s Cedar Cultural Center to Moorhead’s Bluestem Amphitheater. NIVA has since expanded its membership to all 50 states.
NIVA launched a #SaveOurStages social media campaign that gained traction with major music platforms (NIVA partnered with YouTube for the virtual #SOSfest, and Spotify donated $500,000 in December). They also hired a lobbying firm to make NIVA’s case on Capitol Hill, arguing that not only were indie venues a cultural lifeblood of America’s cities, they generate $10 billion nationwide each year. As NIVA grew in size and scale, they gained bipartisan support in the halls of Congress. Sen. Klobuchar partnered with Sen. John Coryn (R-TX) to introduce the Save Our Stages Act in the Senate, and Reps. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Roger Williams (R-TX) introduced it in the House.
The Save Our Stages Act’s $15 billion SPA grant program will help to fund live music venues, independent movie theaters and live theaters, and cultural institutions. Coming just a week after a group of dedicated fans and artists created an album to benefit Minneapolis’s endangered music mainstay, First Avenue, $15 billion more in the pot is welcome news.
“We’re thrilled that Congress has heard the call of shuttered independent venues across the country and provided us a crucial lifeline by including the Save Our Stages Act in the COVID-19 Relief Bill,” said Dayna Frank, First Avenue’s owner and CEO, and president of NIVA. “We’re also incredibly grateful that this bill provides Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which will help the millions of people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own during this economic crisis. We urge swift passage of this legislation, which will assist those in the greatest need and ensure the music lives on for generations to come.”
