Hundreds of small music venues are struggling to stay open - Marketplace

Clarksdale, located in the Mississippi Delta, is known as the birthplace of Bruce. This kind of music has been passed down here for generations and can be played at homes, automatic joints and various gathering places. Every year, thousands of people from all over the world come to listen. As a result, Clarksdale has spent a lot of time in the Bruce Tourism neighborhood in the past two decades, redeveloping the city. 

You may have heard depression on the scene at 365 nightclubs and club parties throughout the year. Then came COVID-19.  

"This affects everything about the business tax paid. It affects the budget of the city of Clarkdale, the county, all mothers and pop musicians. This is a disaster." Roger Stoller, head of the Clarksdale Tourism Commission Say. He also owns a music venue and shop Cathead Delta Blues and Folk Art.

Stoller said the loss of local night performances had an economic impact on the entire region.

Now, every night, live music in small venues has been replaced by live music on large streaming platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. 

Stoller said that Clarksdale's virtual performance is not just about making money. Their purpose is to make Clarksdale visible to blues fans when things reopen.

The economic development of live music and its surroundings is difficult. During the pandemic, much-loved long-term business locations have closed, such as Jazz Standard in New York, Satellite in Los Angeles and U Street Concert Hall in Washington, DC. There are hundreds more places. 

Towards the end of 2020, fans are welcomed with news-$15 billion in federal funds is used to help troubled independent music and theater venues. 

The National Independent Venue Association, which consists of nearly 3,000 venues, has been lobbying for federal assistance. 

"Just because we are closed does not mean that we do not have rent and mortgages, utilities, insurance and taxes. We are willing." said Audrey Fix Schaefer, a spokesperson for the organization. She called the relief program a "lifeline". 

Even so, the temporary closure will bring another loss. 

"Music venues are talent incubators for our industry," Shain Shapiro said. He works for Sound Diplomacy, a consulting agency that works with cities to establish a night economic system. 

Shapiro said: "When you don't have a place to train talents, it will create a huge gap in what we call the talent development ladder."

For Tobi Parks in Des Moines, Iowa, the loss of opportunity is a personal feeling. 

She owns xBk, which is a venue for folk, rock and spoken events. 

She has completed the live broadcast and sold the goods. 

"This is the real incremental income." Parks said: "You know, this doesn't mean we can sell T-shirts for $25 for 200 people per night. " 

Her monthly management fee is US$8,000. Recently, another stadium in Des Moines closed. 

The location of the park, xBk, will eventually feel a loss. She said it is unlikely that touring musicians will travel through cities with smaller music scenes. 

"All our venues are now on the fringe. Rebuilding the live music market and the live music economy in this city may take another ten years," she said. 

Parks saw all aspects of the music business. She herself has worked in a band, worked for a large record company, and is a lawyer with license and royalties experience.  

She has been engaged in legal work throughout the pandemic. She said the money she received from the relief fund could be as high as $95,000, which is huge-survived the pandemic and permanently closed.

The Ministry of Finance has begun issuing a new round of pandemic relief funds. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said that starting from the last week of December, it has begun direct deposits into certain people’s bank accounts. People who do not have a bank account on file with the institution can expect to get a paper check or prepaid debit card in the mail. Compared with paper checks, these cards have some advantages −

.

Eventually, retail pharmacies will provide vaccines for everyone. Preparing for this is huge

. The chain store will have to predict the demand for each store so as not to end up wasting the dose. They must also keep track of everyone who needs two doses of the vaccine, employ thousands of workers, and they will ask questions about how long they want to continue to work, and leave space in the store so that people can wait for the vaccine while they are safely in line.

According to the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, first-line medical workers and residents of long-term care institutions receive help first. Next, basic workers will be considered, but because the vaccine dose is limited and many important workers are considered important, the battle has begun, who should be at the forefront:

. The CDC will continue to consider how best to distribute the vaccine, but ultimately it is up to each state to decide when to vaccinate.