Billboard - 28.03.2020

W

HEN CORONAVIRUS-

related concert and festival

cancellations began to

descend upon the live-

music business in early March,

Recording Academy chairman and

interim CEO Harvey Mason Jr.

realized the situation was going to get

out of control — and fast. “I thought,

‘We’re going to have to do something

extraordinary to keep up,’ ” he says.

So on March 17, the academy and

its philanthropic arm, MusiCares,

each donated $1 million to launch

the COVID-19 Relief Fund for music

professionals adversely affected by the

virus. Administered by MusiCares, the

fund raised $4 million in under a week

through donations from Amazon Mu-

sic, Facebook, SiriusXM and Pandora,

Spotify, TIDAL and YouTube Music,

plus fundraising efforts from musi-

cians like Alicia Keys and Better Than

Ezra’s Kevin Griffin.

That money will go directly to

industry professionals, from artists

to lighting engineers and tour crew

members, whose livelihoods have

been or will be compromised due to

government shutdowns. “We’re raising

money for people that live paycheck to

paycheck,” says Mason. “These are not

the artists that are going on worldwide

tours on jets.”

A pandemic is the kind of

impossible-to-predict situation that

the MusiCares safety net was set up

for. Founded in 1989, the nonprofit

helps music industry professionals

cover a range of financial, medical

and personal emergencies. Three days

after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the

Gulf Coast region in 2005, MusiCares

and the academy dedicated $1 mil-

lion to help those affected by the

storm. During its five-year effort to

aid the hurricane’s victims, Musi-

Cares distributed over $4.5 million to

more than 4,500 music professionals

— covering everything from medi-

cal expenses and relocation costs to

instrument repair.

The academy has 12 chapters in

major music cities from Atlanta to Los

Angeles and MusiCares staff in cities

like New York and Nashville, giving

the nonprofit “boots on the ground

and people in the [music] communi-

ties who know what’s going to be a

difference-maker for a lot of people,”

says Mason. “Some people need help

with their rent; some need to buy

groceries; some need medical care.

Luckily, MusiCares is set up to deal

specifically with that.”

Individuals who have at least three

years of employment in the music

industry, or six commercially released

singles or videos, can apply for grants

of up to $1,000 on the MusiCares

website, where they will be required

to show proof of gig cancellations due

to the coronavirus. From there, Mason

says, “it’s really a partnership between

MusiCares staff looking into it and

working with the individual recipient

to find out ‘what happened, how did

it happen, where am I and where do I

need the help?’ ”

Of course, the coronavirus pan-

demic comes with new challenges for

relief efforts: Not only is it a global

problem with far-reaching effects, but

it’s ongoing, yielding news updates

daily and even hourly. The number of

people MusiCares can directly help

depends on how much money it can

raise, which is why the academy is so-

liciting further donations — “whether

it’s $5 or $5 million,” says Mason.

“It’s ambitious. It’s going to be one

of our greatest challenges for the next

couple of months to serve as many

people as we can,” he adds. “We’re

here to help our community. But we

also need to be calling on our commu-

nity to help in this trying time.”

Donate or apply for funds at

grammy.com/musicares.

GOOD WORKS

MusiCares Raises Millions

For Music Biz Workers

Funds will go directly to those who have lost their livelihoods to the coronavirus shutdown

BY TATIANA CIRISANO

Recording Academy

chairman Mason.

CORONAVIRUS. MAREN MORRIS AND HUSBAND RYAN HURD WELCOMED THEIR FIRST CHILD, SON HAYES ANDREW HURD. CURB RECORDS SIGNED COUNTRY SINGER-SONGWRITER HANNAH ELLIS.

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WAYS TO

GET HELP

HEAD TO

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CORONAVIRUS FOR

A STATE-BY-STATE

RESOURCE GUIDE

FOR THE MUSIC

COMMUNITY

BANDING TOGETHER ATX

Red River Cultural District, an arts

advocacy nonprofit in Austin, set up this

GoFundMe to support those in the Austin

live-music community who have been

economically affected by the cancella-

tion of South by Southwest. It is nearly

halfway to its goal of reaching $100,000.

Donate and learn how to apply for funds at

gofundme.com/f/bandingtogether2020.

TOUR SUPPORT

Tour Support, a division of LightHopeLife,

which promotes mental health in the

live-music business, has partnered

with counseling service BetterHelp to

offer independent artists and tours af-

fected by coronavirus-related cancel-

lations free online therapy. Get help at

lighthopelife.org/tour-support.

GEMA

The German collection society is rolling out a

40 million euros ($43.2 million) emergency aid

program for songwriter/composer members.

The program will have two tiers: 1) Members

whose performances were canceled due to

the pandemic will receive a blanket advance

payment based on their previous income.

2) Members can apply for additional grants

through GEMA’s Corona Relief Fund.

NEW ORLEANS BOUNCE DJ BLACK N MILD DIED AT AGE 44 DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS. AFRICAN JAZZ ARTIST MANU DIBANGO, KNOWN FOR HIS 1972 HIT “SOUL MAKOSSA,” DIED AT AGE 86 DUE TO THE

EXO: VISUAL CHINA GROUP/GETTY IMAGES. VIVE LATINO: ALEJANDRO MELENDEZ/AFP/GETTY IMAGES. MASON: ALBERTO E. RODRIGUEZ/GETTY IMAGES.

MARCH 28, 2020 • WWW.BILLBOARD.COM 19

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