You knew it was bad… but did you know it was this bad?
According to NPR, a new survey conducted by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) found that 90% of independent music venues won’t survive the pandemic if they don’t receive federal funding soon. And some states won’t open venues until a vaccine is found which could still be months and months away, if not longer.
The survey included nearly 2,000 music professionals and members of NIVA that includes The Bowery Ballroom in New York City, Troubador in Los Angeles, 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. and Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.
When the pandemic started, perhaps nobody was hit as hard as music venues who rely solely on large crowds to keep the lights on. And according to Nashville’s Exit/In owner Chris Cobb, it’s not looking good.
“Now it’s more sad, because we’re starting to see it actually happen,” he tells WSMV. “We can’t package and to-go what we do. You can’t sell a concert to-go.”
“Exit/In is running at about 5% from a revenue standpoint… We’ve lost 95% of our revenue.”
And it’s not hard to understand why operating on 95% less money isn’t sustainable. And what’s more, when venues finally do start to open back up, they’ll more than likely face capacity restrictions which still makes it nearly impossible for them to make money.
It’s not looking good…
You can visit NIVASOC.org for more info on how you can help.
