Better Together

As each day goes by, safety restrictions are starting to be lifted across cities and countries across the world. While some areas are further behind in their progress than others, we are seeing live entertainment reopen in different ways. Yet, one thing remains the same...the world of live entertainment was hit hard. Australia is calling for a $345 Million proposed recovery plan broken down as follows:

• $170m in Investment, including tax incentives, community engagement incentives, and a contingency reserve to support funding if there is another outbreak.

• $30m in Innovation, funding digital and technological innovation like COVIDSafe technology solutions.

• $70m toward Australia Council to support job creation and recovery.

• $75m focused on Consumers to give confidence in attending live events again, e-vouchers to encourage Australians to attend live events again, and attract international visitors.

Australia formed the Live Entertainment Industry Forum (LEIF) to better work with government, businesses, and audiences more cohesively, to help the return of live events. “LEIF will put in place a comprehensive, flexible, all-of-industry re-opening and risk management strategy that meets the needs of the public, governments and performers and industry, with safety at its core" in an effort to build confidence in both venues and fans amongst returning to live entertainment. It's already looking like July will start to see 10,000 person events.

In the US, we’re seeing NIVA request help from the federal government as well. The RESTART Act aims to support independent venues, who out of the 2,000 members across 50 states, 90% say they will have to shut down permanently within a couple of months if no federal funding becomes available (current PPP funding isn’t enough). Independent venues need long-term assistance to make it through.

In April, the B.C. Music Festival Collective was formed in British Columbia, which consists of over 50 independent music festival producers, in an effort to tackle forthcoming industry challenges together. It was recognized early on that in order to ensure public safety at large-scale events, a collaborative response when speaking with various organizations and governing bodies will be needed to ensure the long term success of the festival culture.