PAMAC Brings Together Leading Musicians of Kentucky with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Senior Staff to Discuss Impact of COVID-19 on Music Industry
Leading musicians of Kentucky and industry executives discussed the impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. Music Industry in a conference call with Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Senior Staff on August 4, 2020
For Immediate Release
PAMAC Brings Together Leading Musicians of Kentucky with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Senior Staff to Discuss Impact of COVID-19 on U.S. Music Industry
August 6, 2020 (Louisville, KY) – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Chief of Staff and Legal Counsel met in a conference call on Tuesday, August 4th with prominent musicians of Kentucky and industry executives to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. Music Industry.
The call with the Senator’s Senior Staff was coordinated by the Performing Arts Managers and Agents Coalition (PAMAC) and took place with Conductor and Music Director of the Louisville Orchestra Teddy Abrams, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Andrew McInnes of TMWRK Management representing country singer Sturgill Simpson and NIVA Kentucky Leader Billy Hardison of Louisville-based club Headliners Music Hall – all constituents of Senator McConnell’s home state of Kentucky – plus PAMAC Founder Charlotte Lee, PAMAC Co-leader Cindy Liu, PAMAC Member and Senior Executive Agent Jonathan Levine of Paradigm Agency, and NITO members Eric Mayers and Jason Colton of Red Light Management.
Conductor Teddy Abrams, who led the conversation, commented: “The very soul of America is our culture – it defines the way we see ourselves and the way the world sees our country. This era of challenges and tragedies is a call for our nation’s creative artists and organizations to do the work that they can uniquely do: To heal, to inspire, to erase barriers and to lead. On Tuesday, several colleagues from across the spectrum of the cultural community came together to speak with Senator Mitch McConnell’s team about how America’s artists and cultural institutions need critical and immediate support from our federal government. We are not asking for funding to wait for the world to return to “normal.” We are asking to be a part of the rebuilding and growth of the nation we care about so deeply. We are asking our elected representatives to ensure that America does not lose its soul, and we are requesting this legislative support so that artists and arts organizations – who are already so beautifully predisposed to serve their communities – can provide our nation with the solace and communion that every American deserves at this time.”
The meeting detailed the unique plight faced by the U.S. arts sector and the necessity of arts-specific federal relief to tide it through the ramifications of COVID-19. The group discussed their primary policy ask of expanding and recapitalizing PPP loan funds eligibility for an industry that was the first to close and will be the last to resume operations.
Abrams highlighted the integral role the arts play in community revitalization, as well as how the arts drive $877 Billion annually into the economy and additional billions of revenue into different facets of the economy such as restaurants, bars and hospitality. He reiterated that, despite the arts industry facing a uniquely existential crisis, artists around the country were amongst the first to “drop everything and start giving”, an “incredibly moving” reminder of the necessity of the arts to “connect and heal”. Abrams touched on how the COVID-19 economic fallout of the arts industry is a national issue, which Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Cornyn (R-TX) emphasized in their introduction on June 22nd of the “Save Our Stages” bill to address the gap in federal loan programs supporting the creative economy.
Jim James, lead singer of the rock band My Morning Jacket, illustrated how “musicians and artists form the invisible backbone of our society” through the arts’ more unquantifiable effects, such as improving mental health, education and community engagement. Charlotte Lee, President and Founder of New York-based classical music agency Primo Artists and Founder of PAMAC, emphasized the agency perspective informing the policy asks, reiterating the “disproportionate effect of COVID-19 on the industry which has a financial model that depends on mass gatherings”. Jonathan Levine of Paradigm, agent of Sturgill Simpson, pointed out that live touring is unlikely to return in an economically viable form until 2022, assuming independent venues remain operational.
The Senator’s staff said they recognized the impact the pandemic has caused the arts sector and emphasized the changing dynamics of the current relief package negotiations. They highlighted the current proposal brought forward by Senator McConnell which includes another round of forgivable loans in the Paycheck Protection Program and a new “Recovery Sector Loans” program for small businesses with over 50% in gross revenue loss.
As Senate prepares to vote on the next COVID-19 stimulus bill, PAMAC continues to lobby Congress to include the arts sector in their forthcoming relief package. PAMAC is working in collaboration with their 28 partner organizations including NIVA, NITO, Americans for the Arts and the League of American Orchestras to represent the interests of the broader arts and culture sector. Follow PAMAC’s advocacy updates at their website and Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels, and find resources there on how to advocate for the arts with your state and federal representatives.