Live Nation Launches Initiative To Help Out-of-Work Live Music Crew Workers
Finally, a bit of good news to counter the endless stream of coronavirus-related doom and misery: concert promotion behemoth Live Nation has launched an initiative to benefit live music crew workers who have found themselves out of work as a result of the live events industry collapse.
The initiative, Crew Nation, will be run by Live Nation’s charitable arm, Music Forward Foundation. Live Nation has committed $10 million to Crew Nation – contributing an initial $5 million to the fund, then matching the next $5 million given by artists, fans and employees dollar for dollar. A statement from Live Nation reads:
“The Crew Nation fund is here to help support live music crews who have been directly impacted as shows are put on pause due to COVID-19.
“Crew like you are essential to the fabric of live touring. You work behind the scenes to help artists and fans connect with the magic of live music, and Live Nation wants to ensure you are taken care of during this time.
“Crew Nation is designed to help all the backstage staff that help bring concerts to life including: tour managers, production managers, riggers, sound engineers, backline techs, lighting directors/designers, special effects teams, carpenters, and more.
“Music Forward Foundation will be selecting recipients based on an objective determination of need; employees of Live Nation will not be eligible to receive funding.
“We want to get relief into the hands of crew who are already feeling the impact of this intermission period. Here’s how we plan to do that:
“• Over the next week, Live Nation will be reaching out to crew members from tours across the globe whose income has already been affected due to the cancellation or rescheduling of a Live Nation event.
“• We will be releasing an application for live music crews across the industry. Please check back for next steps.”
Those wishing to submit an application should keep an eye on this page, and those wishing to donate can do so here.
