Austin’s political and business leaders now have clear data to back up years of anecdotal evidence that local musicians are being driven out of the city due to the high cost of living and the general affordability crisis. The cost crunch faced by Austin musicians is one of the starkest findings of the new Greater […]
Live Music Capital of the World
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Live Music Fund headed for final Council vote next month
The city’s Live Music Fund is expected to get final approval from City Council in February, nearly three and a half years since it was created using millions of dollars in Hotel Occupancy Tax revenues. At last week’s Music Commission meeting, staff from the Music and Entertainment Division said the Purchasing Department is finalizing portions […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Long Center makes sole bid to manage city’s Live Music Fund
The Long Center for the Performing Arts appears almost certain to be named as the organization that will handle the application process and payments for recipients of grants from the city’s long-awaited Live Music Fund. The fine arts center was the sole applicant for the third-party administrator contract, which was handled via a request for […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Initial music census findings show changing landscape for Austin creatives
Early findings from a recent census of the Austin music community show some improvements in the state of local creatives, though there are still areas of concern for music stakeholders. At Monday’s meeting of the Music Commission, a presentation from Sound Music Cities founder Don Pitts offered a glimpse of some noteworthy details from the […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
What is a live music venue? City Council looks to make it official
Nearly 32 years after declaring itself the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin is finally getting around to defining what, exactly, a live music venue is. A resolution on the agenda for today’s City Council meeting seeks to amend city code and a portion of the Land Development Code to include the specific parameters […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Red River Cultural District seeks new director to succeed Cowan
The Red River Cultural District is searching for a new executive director to lead the nonprofit organization that seeks to stabilize and improve the city’s most prominent cluster of live music venues. The search comes on the heels of the announcement that Cody Cowan, who has served as executive director since shortly after the group’s […]
Posted inCity Hall
Music Commission wants Council to ‘expedite’ Live Music Fund activation
The Music Commission plans to push City Council and staff to speed up the deployment of the Live Music Fund, which was approved by City Council in fall 2019 but is not scheduled to be distributed until next July. At last week’s special meeting, commission Chair Anne-Charlotte Patterson said local musicians have been waiting years […]
Posted inPlanning
Stream reveals details of six possible new Sixth Street music venues
Stream Realty Partners is eyeing the possibility of turning at least six of its properties on East Sixth Street into music venues, including a plan to convert the former Buffalo Billiards space into a daytime food hall with music in the evenings. The partial reveals came Friday at a special meeting of the Music Commission where Caitlyn […]
Posted inPlanning
Sixth Street plans could create cushion for new incubator music venues
While new mega-capacity venues such as the Moody Center (capacity 15,000) or the Moody Amphitheater (5,000) attract high-ticket tours from established performers, the smaller clubs that can hold 300 people or less are often the most threatened by the city’s hot real estate market as rising rents clash with profit margins that typically top out […]
Posted inAustin
City, music groups seek partners for update of 2015 creative ecosystem census
The 2015 census that showed the Austin music and creative community was becoming economically marginalized will be updated this summer, with organizers hoping to reach a larger and more diverse pool of respondents from the Austin area and beyond. More than a dozen nonprofit, media and governmental organizations have signed on to help gather data […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
HAAM seeks $1M from city to provide health care for musicians
The Health Alliance for Austin Musicians is seeking $1 million from the city to help maintain health care coverage for 3,000 local musicians and cover an additional 1,000 who qualify for assistance from the nonprofit. During a presentation at last week’s meeting of City Council’s Public Health Committee, HAAM CEO Paul Scott said his group […]
Posted inCity Hall
Musicians playing city events could see pay bump to $200 per hour
Musicians performing at events organized by the city could see a pay increase to $200 per hour, the first increase since 2016, when the rate was set at $150 per hour. The Music Commission voted unanimously Monday to recommend the city implement the pay increase. The vote followed a presentation earlier in the meeting detailing […]