Music Commission’s $3M budget request includes HAAM funds, marketing program

The Music Commission has asked the city for just over $3 million in the next budget to expand some existing programs and provide added economic and medical assistance for local musicians.

At Monday’s meeting, the commission unanimously approved six requests for the 2025 budget, which will be submitted to the Economic Development Department as part of that department’s larger ask during the summer budget negotiations. The largest request was $1 million to fund the ongoing Creative Space Assistance Program, which was started to help arts and live music venues with rental assistance or capital improvements to increase their revenue.

Other requests include $800,000 for the creation of a disaster relief fund specifically intended to help musicians impacted by extreme weather events. The commission also approved a $500,000 request to assist the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians with insurance coverage expenses, $250,000 to fund navigators who will assist applicants for the Live Music Fund grant program and $100,000 to fund a live music performance program organized by the Music and Entertainment Division.

The item that received the most discussion was a request suggested by Commissioner Scott Strickland to use $400,000 of Hotel Occupancy Tax money to create a new program that would help local musicians with expenses related to the marketing and promotion of their concerts in the Austin area. Strickland said the money would be available for performances not funded by the Live Music Fund and would allow musicians to expand on the national and global music marketing efforts that Visit Austin executes as part of its $100,000 contract with the city.

“There’s at least $400,000 that is in the (hotel tax) bucket that is excess money that is not being used. That could be used for a local musician or a local venue to advertise their show and target their show, so that people could show up to that show and generate funds for that show and Hotel Occupancy Taxes,” he said.

“There needs to be a substantial amount of resources for advertising the local shows that people are playing. So … if they were not approved for the Live Music Fund, they could still have the ability to do in-store promotion. They could still have the ability to promote on the radio. They could still have the ability to pay for advertising.”

Commissioners, including Chair Nagavalli Medicharla, questioned whether the progam – which would likely be administered through an outside entity – would duplicate the Visit Austin efforts.

“I absolutely see the need for marketing dollars,” she said. “That takes a chunk of the money out of your pocket to advertise, even just locally. If we are talking about promotion locally to visitors, to tourists nationally or at any level, what I would be interested in understanding is what is it that we’re not getting right now out of what Visit Austin is already lined up to do?”

Sylnovia Holt-Rabb, director of EDD, said the city’s Small Business Division already offers a marketing component as one of the classes included in courses for small business owners, which are available for musicians and artists.

She said the request will be evaluated next to the funding needs for other EDD programs, as well as the ability of city staff to carry it out effectively.

Holt-Rabb also said creating a complementary program with money that could be used for the Live Music Fund could create some confusion among potential applicants.

“We would have to determine if we have the capacity to execute a program of that nature. The Music Division is small and mighty, but if you recall, even the current programs are oversubscribed so the optics could be that now you have excess money that could go to your main program, and now you’re setting aside funds for musicians who are not part of it,” she said. “It is your purview to make a recommendation, and then it is our job to determine and work with our city leadership team if it’s feasible to incorporate.”

Photo made available through a Creative Commons license via Pexels.

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