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Live Music Society

Nonprofit foundation Live Music Society has announced the recipients of its second annual Music in Action grant.
The Music In Action grant provides funding for venues to program events that build community and promote accessibility for marginalized groups, create opportunities for both local talent and touring acts to grow and find new audiences, and increase their revenue and customer base. The number of small music venues benefitting from the program is up from 17 in 2023, while the funds have grown from $500,000 last year to $710,000 this year.

This year, 24 small performance venues across the United States have been granted a total of $710,000 to program events that build community and boost revenue. The 24 venue grantees include Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans, Nocturne Jazz & Supper Club in Denver, Cole’s Bar in Chicago, Drkmtter Collective in Nashville, The Lost Church in San Francisco, The Royal Room in Seattle and Chris’ Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia.

The 2024 recipients will use their funds over the next year to launch concert series, put on family-friendly festivals, build out membership programs, develop spaces for LGBTQ+ musicians to gather, create educational programming and host monthly Latinx dance parties.

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“People are trying to open their stages to new voices: women, BIPOC, LGBTQ and even just different styles of music that they are not used to presenting,” says Live Music Society executive director Cat Henry. “It’s really exciting for people to take a philosophical risk to make sure that they’re not just staying in one lane the whole time and providing opportunities for more voices at the table.”

For Live Music Society founder Pete Muller, the Music In Action grant is about giving people who love and know their business the ability to take a swing at something new and help build a more sustainable business for the long term. “If you have a 200-seat venue, you are not going to make a lot of money. Even if you run it well. The best shot you have is to figure out how to raise a lot of philanthropic local dollars,” says Muller. “Most of the time, it’s going to be shoestring and we can help.”

While Live Music Society does not intend to fully fund any venues, Muller says the nonprofit created the grant for them to take risks on new musicians, pay their musicians and staff reasonable wages and remain an integral part of the live music ecosystem.

“200-seat venues or 100-seat venues are an amazing place to start your musical career,” says Muller, who is also a touring musician. “I actually prefer smaller venues. You can really connect with the crowd. The only problem is, it’s very hard to make a good living.”

Live Music Society, which began handing out grants in 2020, hopes to continue growing the number of venues that receive funding through the Music In Action grant, with the amount of funds reflecting the need. With the 2024 Music In Action grant and its annual Toolbox grant, the foundation has now disbursed $3.7 million in funding to small venues.

To further its mission to recognize and protect small venues and listening rooms across the United States, Live Music Society is also looking to help venues by developing and sharing best practices. In partnership with its venue grantees and involvement with organizations like the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) — Live Music Society will host a panel at this year’s NIVA conference in June — the foundation plans to collect expertise that it can share with small venues to help them succeed in a tough live music economy.

“One of the goals of gathering in New Orleans [for NIVA ‘24] is to help create an informal network of companies and club owners because they aren’t really competing with each other. They are in different markets,” Muller says. “If one of them finds a great musician, sharing it with a different club is helpful to both. The more you interact, the more you create community.”

Full list of 2024 Music In Action grantees:

118 North – Wayne, PAB Side Lounge – Cleveland Heights, OHBlue Jay Listening Room – Jacksonville Beach, FLBossa Bistro – Washington, D.C.Chris’ Jazz Cafe – Philadelphia, PACole’s Bar – Chicago, ILDevil’s Backbone Tavern – Fischer, TXDrkmttr Collective – Nashville, TNFogartyville Community Media and Arts Center – Sarasota, FLGrand Annex Music Hall – San Pedro, CAJilly’s Music Room – Akron, OHLa Peña Cultural Center – Berkeley, CAMaple Leaf Bar – New Orleans, LAMOTR Pub – Cincinnati, OHNocturne Jazz & Supper Club – Denver, COOne Longfellow Square – Portland, MERebel Rebel Studio & Lounge – Berea, KYRoots Music Project – Boulder, COThe Acorn Center for the Performing Arts – Three Oaks, MIThe Jalopy Theatre – Brooklyn, NYThe Lost Church – San Francisco, CAThe Parlor Room – Northampton, MAThe Royal Room – Seattle, WAThe Spot on Kirk – Roanoke, VA

Nonprofit organization Live Music Society is continuing its efforts to support small venues and listening rooms across the country. Today, the organization announced more than $200,000 in additional grants distributed to 31 independent venues, which brings its annual granted funds to over $800,000 so far.
The so-called Toolbox grants are designed for uses including regulatory compliance, enhanced accessibility and upgrading crucial systems such as ticketing and sales. This month’s recipients include xBk in Des Moines, Iowa, which will be installing a portable wheelchair ramp and ADA-compliant stage to better serve artists with disabilities; and The Hideout in Chicago, which will be hiring a social media consultant to improve its understanding of audience metrics and social media management systems and marketing practices. Another recipient, Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz, Calif., will be installing a large flatscreen behind the stage to serve bands with visual elements in a space that cannot accommodate projection.

“These grants go beyond just supporting performance spaces; they foster a vibrant community where venues exchange knowledge, evolve together, and weave a richer cultural tapestry for our nation,” said Live Music Society founder Pete Muller in a release. “This expansion isn’t just about financial assistance; it’s about helping to create an ecosystem where artists and audiences flourish hand in hand.”

Additional venues assisted by this month’s grants include Alex’s Bar, Roots Music Project, Jalopy Theatre, One Longfellow Square, 20 Front Street, Beat Kitchen, Belltown Yacht Club, Cafe Colonial, Casbah, Drkmttr, Floyd Country Store, Hoosier Dome, La Peña Cultural Center, Moe’s Alley, Natalie’s Grandview, Next Stage Arts, New Deal Café, No Class, Opolis, PAUSA art house, Portland House of Music, Rambling House Music Bar, Real Art Tacoma, ShapeShifter Lab, The Egremont Barn, The Goodfoot, The Hideout, The Lost Church, The Parlor Room and The Venue.

“Small venues are the heartbeat of musical growth — they’re where artists learn, make mistakes, and connect with communities,” added Live Music Society board member and singer/activist Nona Hendryx. “Our commitment lies in supporting these venues and understanding that they’re vital launchpads for artists, where songs transform from garage or bedroom creations to stage sensations. Without them, stepping stones in the artist’s journey are missing.”

Live Music Society has continued to expand its programming since its inception in 2020 in response to mass gathering bans that impacted music venues during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier in 2023, it provided $100,000 in Toolbox grants and an additional $500,000 for its Music in Action initiative, which helps venues develop and implement creative ideas to engage their communities, expand audiences and generate new revenue sources.

Non-profit foundation Live Music Society has announced the first recipients of the Music in Action grant program, which provides anywhere from $10,000-$50,000 to small venues. For 2023, 17 venues with a maximum capacity of 300 were provided with a total of $500,000 to develop and implement creative ideas to engage their communities, expand audiences, and generate new revenue sources. This year’s recipients include The Rebel Lounge in Arizona, Sunset Tavern in Washington, Happy Dog in Ohio, Café Coda in Wisconsin and more.

Since the start of the global pandemic in 2020, Live Music Society has provided $3 million in grants to small music venues. The first three rounds of funding were aimed at providing pandemic relief, but the new grant program, Music in Action, is pivoting to help venues succeed and not just survive.

Live Music Society founder Pete Muller — who is also a touring musician — tells Billboard that the foundation understands that the economics for these small venues are difficult and the profit margins can be razor thin, even in non-pandemic years. Small venue owners, he believes, know their community and know the best ways to engage locals and bring people back to their rooms. This year’s ideas included The Stone Church in Vermont continuing their GRRLS 2 The Front program which dedicates the month of March to women and nonbinary-led groups and offers a stage management/sound engineering course. The Elastic Arts Foundation in Illinois will revive their Dark Matter performance series and enhance the AfroFuturist Weekend festival showcasing emerging and established Black artists across different neighborhoods of Chicago’s South and West Sides. Cafe CODA in Wisconsin will expand their COOL SCHOOL program, providing free music education activities and introducing a mobile stage for increased accessibility.

“We’re saying, ‘give us your idea and we will mitigate that risk by giving you money to do it,’ That’s what the grant is,” says Muller. “Hopefully that allows them to do something that’s inspiring and helps the club, but also inspires other places…. It’s seed money. Our return is not cash, it’s creating energy in this ecosystem.”

Funds for the grants come from Muller and other supporters. Live Music Society’s board selected the 17 venues and their programs out of more than 100 applications this year, focusing on ideas that champion historically marginalized groups such as BIPOC, Latinx, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities.

Music in Action is about trusting that music venue owners know what they need to flourish, says Live Music Society executive director Cat Henry, adding “asking [venue owners] was important, not telling them.”

“One of the biggest things we’ve heard from venue owners is that this is unique. There’s not really a lot of funding opportunities, especially for for-profit [businesses],” says Henry. “It changes the way they think about things knowing that somebody cares about this, that there’s an advocate out there that is looking out for the sector as a whole.”

Live Music Society has also teamed up with trade association National Independent Venue Association for the second annual National Independent Venue Association conference set to take place in July in Washington, D.C. Live Music Society will do an introduction to their grantees at the NIVA ‘23 Independent Awards Gala, a panel discussion with key stakeholders from the small venue community and sponsorship of a Salute to Small Venues concert at Pie Shop. Additionally, they will provide a networking space called the Live Music Society Cantina, located across from The Anthem, the main venue hosting conference programming.

Check out a full list of 2023 Music in Action grantees below.

The 2023 Music In Action Grant Recipients:

Big Room Bar, Columbus, OH

Cafe Coda, Madison, WI

Caffé Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY

Chocolate Church Arts Center, Bath, ME

Club Passim, Cambridge, MA

Dazzle, Denver, CO

Drom, New York, NY

Elastic Arts Foundation, Chicago, IL

Happy Dog, Cleveland, OH

Hey Nonny, Arlington Heights, IL

Ivy Room, Albany, CA

Stone Church, Brattleboro, VT

Sunset Tavern, Seattle, WA

TAC Temescal Art Center, Oakland, CA

The Muse Performance Space, Lafayette, CO

The Parlour, Providence, RI

The Rebel Lounge, Phoenix, AZ