BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – Live music venues are thrilled to receive federal relief for the first time in nine months.
The $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress late Monday night earmarked $15 billion for entertainment venues, including $10 billion for music venues.
“It’s substantial,” Artie Kwitchoff, co-owner of Town Ballroom in Buffalo, said. “The money that is going to be granted has to be used in 2021 for the business. It’s not like they’re going to wire money to all of us owners and we’re going say ‘Hey this is great. I just got paid a whole lot of money from the government.’ That money has to be used to continue business in 2021.”
Town Ballroom is just one of several different local music venues in Buffalo that have been hit hard by the pandemic. No venue has been allowed to operate a show, even as some have pushed for the state to allow them to reopen under the original “phase four” plan over the summer.
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While many are holding out hope that the vaccine will allow the concert scene to thrive again as early as next spring, Kwitchoff said he and fellow c-owner Donny Kutzbach have agreed to wait until September 2021 to reopen.
“We are not even going to attempt to open before that,” Kwitchoff said. “We want everybody to be pretty much as complete and comfortable as they can be by September. We’re not going try to time anything because we’re not a bar. We’ve live music…I don’t want somebody buying something in May and feeling really uncomfortable.”
WBEN reached out to the office of Congressman Brian Higgins for details on how music venues and other businesses will receive the funding.
They said the grant awards are based on the gross revenues from 2019. Venues will be able to receive grants for up to 45% of gross revenue earned in 2019. For venues that began business in 2019, their grants will be their average monthly gross revenue for 2019 multiplied by 6.
“The maximum award is $10 million,” a spokesperson for Higgins said. “Entities may request a second supplemental grant for half the amount of their initial grant.”
Eligible expenses for the grant will include payroll, rent, utilities, and personal protective equipment.
Venues can apply for the grant through the Small Business Administration on a date that is still to-be-determined by the SBA. The SBA is prioritizing hardest-hit venues, meaning the first two weeks of the application will be open to venues that have faced 90% or greater revenue loss. After those businesses apply, venues that have lost 70% in revenues are eligible to apply.
Eligible entities include live venue operators or promoters, theatrical producers, live performing arts organization operators, museum operators, motion picture theatre operators, or talent representatives.
Shea’s Performing Arts Center gave WBEN the following statement:
We’re grateful that our elected representatives in Washington have approved this relief package as the next step in helping our country financially recover and heal from the ongoing devastation the pandemic has caused. With the rest of the community, we’re reviewing the language of the bill and awaiting the guidelines that will be issued by the SBA. The support of our WNY legislators and the leadership of Senator Schumer were instrumental in the passing of this bill and ensured the inclusion of the Save our Stages Act. It will provide much needed assistance for theatres, live performance venues, and cultural institutions in our community.
Kwitchoff said advocacy by the National Independent Venue Association is ensuring that music venues, rather than venues that sometimes play music, are prioritized.
“From what I understand, it has to be independent venues,” Kwitchoff said. “It can’t be a venue at a university that’s funded by the state. Things like that. I love the fact that they’re really going to be careful and (prioritize) what are truly independent venues…That’s what’s so great about this.”
While it initially appeared President Donald Trump planned to sign the bill in the coming days, reports surfaced Tuesday evening that he may veto it.