Trump Decision to Bail on Federal Stimulus Pushes Music Venues Over the Brink

The announcement by President Trump on Tuesday that Congressional Republicans should end negotiations for an economic relief package—sorely needed by so many industries, people, and governments in the country—also came as a death knell to the live music industry.

"While that bizarre statement proved that there's no relief in sight for the unemployed, the service industry, small businesses, and more, Trump also effectively doomed hundreds, if not thousands of independent venues who need a bailout to survive the pandemic," according to an article by Josh Terry.

Here are the brutal details of the implications of the failed stimulus package for independent music venues in the country:

The National Independent Venue Association, which is composed of over 2,800 venues across all 50 states, has been fighting for the survival of these spaces since April following mass closures and the cancellation of live music events.  But after months of partisan deadlock on Congress, a couple tweets from the President basically wiped out all hope of long overdue Federal assistance. An oft-cited NIVA survey says that 90% of independent venues will be forced to permanently shutter by the end of the year if they don't get a bailout; that's becoming a reality. 

In short, it will be a bloodbath—a bloodbath that many predicted, and more than once. But the bloodbath is already here. Terry lists the casualties: "Just this week, Washington D.C.'s iconic U Street Music Hall closed for good along with Des Moines, Iowa's Vaudeville Mews. These losses are piling up, even in music bastions like Nashville and New Orleans."