Commission Considers Making Venues Eligible for the Live Music Fund

As 2023 comes to a close, the Austin Music Commission has begun workshopping how to open up the Live Music Fund to venues, not just musicians and independent promoters, in its second year.

At its December meeting on Monday night, Music & Entertainment Division Manager Erica Shamaly presented commissioners with a potential plan for venue eligibility for the program. Venues must meet the city of Austin’s definition outlined in the Creative Space Assistance Program, which states that live music must be the primary purpose for an establishment, as illustrated by exhibiting at least five items from the following list:

•Defined performance and audience space
• Mixing desk, PA system, and lighting rig
• Back line
• Existence of a sound engineer, booker, promoter, stage manager, or security (at least two of these)
• Cover or ticket charges
• Marketing
• Hours of operation that coincide with performance times
• Programs live music at least five nights a week

Adding music venues to the list of those eligible for Live Music Fund grants follows criticism that the program, initiated in 2019, favors event promoters more than local independent musicians. Advocacy group Austin Texas Musicians suggested at the November commission meeting that half the fund be designated for events booked through local venues as a way to direct more money to musicians.

Shamaly confirmed that the Economic Development Department requested a bigger budget for the 2024 edition of the fund to account for adding venues to its application pool. “It’s not gonna be $3.5 million in award money,” she said, referencing the total funds rolled out through the LMF this year. “It will be more than that.”

Still, Austin Music Commission Vice Chair Anne-Charlotte Patterson suggested organizers define percentages of funds awarded to venues as opposed to independent musicians and promoters. “Venues, being larger organizations, might have more staff that can help with an application, whereas a bandleader might struggle more,” Patterson said. “We’ve heard that there were some difficulties with the applications… I don’t want the independent musicians and smaller groups to be eclipsed.”

The Live Music Fund is still processing all of the $3.5 million awarded to 368 recipients in 2023. According to Shamaly, most of the awardees have received their first payments.

In November, the Live Music Fund Event Program issued a demographic breakdown of the 660 applications received for funds this year. The applicant pool consisted of 80% musicians and 20% independent promoters. According to a city memo posted last week, 50% of grantees identify as “majority diverse race/ethnicity” and 32% identify as “majority female or non-binary.”