More than 1,000 U.S. music venues are in danger of closing if they don't get federal aid. We spoke with the president of NIVA, the new organization that's lobbying to get help
It’s really depressing what the landscape looks like. We are in a low-margin business just like the restaurants, but it is a high-liability business and capital-intensive business. We have massive spaces of retail — giant storefronts and high rents. We are located in popular neighborhoods and most of our members are in expensive districts. We still have to carry insurance, because we know that when the economy gets bad, people get more litigious.
We’ve been doing a lot of education — talking with a lot of folks in politics just trying to explain what we do. It is such a specific industry and sometimes you forget how insular or unusual it is because its our daily life. We are explaining what a talent buyer is, a booker, a promoter — and how they all fit together. I’ve been doing a lot of explaining on why the timing of the shutdown literally could not be worse.
“We are all going to do what we need to do to protect public health … We were prepared to be down for three months. Six months. But now, is it starting to look like 12 months, 18 months? That’s when the existential crisis ensues.”We have a daily email blast, a weekly town hall, and organizing committees. We’re working out six-month and five-year plans for the organization.
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