FARGO, N.D. (KFGO) – Jade Nielsen, a long-time, well-known concert and events promoter across North Dakota and Minnesota says show cancellations because of crowd capacity limits and musicians no longer performing because of the pandemic has been a financial nightmare.
After 9 months of negative revenue, Nielson says it became a “life and death” situation for his company to the point he considered closing for good. But a bill passed by Congress in late December as part of the COVID-19 relief bill should pave the way for Nielsen and other venue operators nationwide to apply for financial relief. The “Save Our Stages Act” provides $15-billion in grants.
Promoters and the venues will be able to apply for the grants based on up to 45-percent of their 2019 gross revenue. Nielsen remains optimistic but admits there are unknowns. Whether the grant money will be enough to keep many financially-struggling businesses operating until the pandemic is brought under control is yet to be determined. Nielson says it could be months, possibly a year before the venues and business recovers.
Without these funds, it was estimated that nearly 90% of the country’s independent live music venues would close in the near future, leaving the state of music, tours, and the industry at large in jeopardy.
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar was a co-sponsor of the Save Our Stages Act.
Comments