Our community needs our help. Right now COVID-19 has utterly destroyed our music and nightlife industry. Rent in Seattle is expensive and with no income, our beloved venues will be forced to close because they had little to no aid from the government. This global crisis has sparked a movement with more than 30 venues from all around WA coming together to form the Washington Nightlife Music Association. Working alongside the Seattle Independent Artist Sustainability Effort (SIASE) is a horizontal coalition formed by and for artists to enhance self-determination and secure both the short and long term sustainability of our communities through documentation, coordination, and direct advocacy.
Seattle has many different venues with a significant amount of history soaked into its walls. Live music is the heartbeat of nightlife in Seattle and without a stage, that culture will cease to exist. Jake Gravbrot, who works at Clock-Out Lounge in Beacon Hill doing social media and marketing, summed up how a majority of us, I’m sure, are feeling at the moment.
5 Key Steps For Saving Music Venues in Seattle
- Cash Assistance, not loans
- Rent and mortgage forgiveness and reduction
- Financial payments and assistance for the workforce
- Tax relief
- Insurance relief and provisions
Please call (202) 224-3121 and tell your representatives music venues are small businesses and need the help listed above. It’s not enough to just like and share a post on social media, you must reach out and have your voice heard by the people in a position to make a change. The more voices they hear, the louder we are, the longer the music will be played.
It is imperative that you email kcexec@kingcounty.gov AND jeanne.kohl-welles@kingcounty.gov and let them know venues need direct cash assistance in order to survive this crisis. Explain why it is important to you that venues be able to reopen after these closures and direct them to www.wanma.info for more information on what needs to be done.
If you are intimated or have no idea what to say when you call or email your Representative’s office, the Washington Nightlife Music Association has created a script for you:
Introduce yourself.
Hi, my name is _______________ and I live in [City, State].
Tell them why music venues are important to you. Suggested topics of discussion:
- How many shows you go to
- Favorite memory at a concert
- Favorite places to see shows
- Favorite artist(s) you’ve seen at your local venues
SAVE OUR VENUES!
Remind them that these experiences could be taken from you and folks in the community if venues don’t receive the relief that makes sense for a crisis of this magnitude.
Washington Nightlife Music Association.
I stand with the Washington Nightlife Music Association and am calling to share their requests for Direct Cash Assistance, not loans. As well as, rent relief that makes sense, financial assistance for their workforce, tax relief, and insurance revisions.
How would you feel if your favorite venue(s) closed because they weren’t able to survive this closure?
Sum up, briefly, how this community makes you feel and thank them for listening and supporting live music!
Our community is powerful enough to make a difference if we stand together and each person does their part. Click here to sign the petition to help save music venues in Washington and help pave the way for relief to be provided throughout the entire industry.
