A capacity crowd cheers for Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at Nashville independent music venue Eastside Bowl, 6/9/2023
Legislation is on its way to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk that would create a Live Music Fund. While the law does not actually fund any action for this fiscal year, it lays out a framework through which the state can support music venues, promoters and performers via grants in the future. The National Independent Venue Association, its local analog Music Venue Alliance Nashville and the Broadway Entertainment Association support SB2508/HB2712, which was carried in both the state Senate and House of Representatives.
“We are truly excited by the unanimous and bipartisan support for our independent venues,” MVAN’s Chris Cobb says in a release from the Tennessee Entertainment Commission. “It has become increasingly difficult to own, operate, or grow an independent venue in today’s climate, and a fund like this will be a difference maker to ensure that independent venues across Tennessee not only survive, but thrive.”
The release also notes that the legislation allows individuals and private companies to make donations to the fund, which the Tennessee Entertainment Commission will administer. The pair of bills also creates codified definitions in state law for specific elements of the live music industry, which ideally will make the process of allocating funding and providing grants simpler.
“Independent venues and performers across the great state of Tennessee are the foundation of our complex and vibrant ecosystem,” says the commission's executive director Bob Raines, “and we know their success is directly tied to the vibrancy and growth of our communities across the state.”
Three years ago, COVID vaccines were giving the live-entertainment world the confidence to make tentative steps toward in-person events after a full year of lockdown. The federal Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program provided much-needed help, but suffered from a slow and challenging rollout. There’s vocal support for assistance for live music at the Metro level, and PennPraxis’ Nashville Independent Venues Study and a coalition-supported Greater Nashville Music Census are set to provide recommendations this year.
The COVID lockdown and ensuing crisis for live entertainment pushed the vital roles played by independent music venues into the spotlight, and highlighted long-standing systemic issues in the business — like the stress that rising real estate prices put on venue owners’ and operators’ ability to own the property housing their venues. These problems have not been definitively solved, and making it possible for the state to contribute support in this area could bring us one step closer.
