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 […]
Music and Entertainment Division
A department of the city’s economic development division geared toward growing the music and entertainment industry.
Posted inAustin
City staffing shortages to delay Live Music Fund deployment until mid-2023
Musicians, promoters and other creatives will have to wait another year to enter into a contract of $5,000-$10,000 from the city’s Live Music Fund. The delay is due to a staffing shortage in the city, including 20 positions in the Economic Development Department, with the management of the fund headed for a third-party contractor. During a […]
Posted inAustin
City had data, but not follow-through, to ‘fix’ Sixth Street in 2014
City leaders had a pair of reports nearly a decade ago that prescribed changes to make the downtown Sixth Street entertainment district safer, yet many of those actions were never implemented despite a 2014 City Council resolution that included several of them. Last week during discussion on a resolution that advanced some of the steps […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Council pushes Music Commission for further review of funds to promote industry growth
City Council has asked the Music Commission to take another look at the proposed guidelines for the new Live Music Fund, with some on the dais questioning whether the program fits the intent of Council action taken two years ago to support the local music industry. At Monday’s work session, Mayor Steve Adler led off […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Music Commission’s oversight could further delay emergency funds for musicians
The Music Commission has asked city staff for more input and involvement in how a pair of financial assistance programs for Austin musicians will be carried out, with an emergency aid fund tied to Covid-19 possibly delayed three weeks as a result. The commission heard presentations Monday on two programs: the Live Music Fund Event Program […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Proposed live music grants could fund hundreds of concerts
The city is seeking feedback in the initial guidelines for the long-planned Live Music Fund, which would provide hundreds of grants of up to $10,000 for independent musicians and promoters to create new concerts and festivals throughout the city. Total proposed funding for the program stands at $2.5 million, with grant amounts ranging from $5,000-$10,000 […]
Posted inAustin
Downtown vacancies eyed for arts activations, tenants with new pilot program
Vacant storefronts in downtown Austin could become temporary homes for arts and creative organizations beginning this summer thanks to a pilot program under development by the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation. The foundation is currently working on a lease agreement with the AMLI Residential real estate company to temporarily take over up to three vacant spaces […]
Posted inAustin
City lays out diversity goals in next round of arts, tourism funding
Groups that have been historically overlooked and underrepresented in the city’s cultural community will have priority in the Economic Development Department’s spending for cultural and tourism programs in the next budget year. During an online meeting held last Saturday, the heads of three EDD divisions that allocate money from the Hotel Occupancy Tax – Heritage […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Austin joins national pilot program exploring how to safely reopen music venues
Austin has signed up as a pilot city for a national effort to establish guidelines for music venues looking to reopen safely once the public health threats from the Covid-19 pandemic are lessened. Today the city will announce its partnership with the Reopen Every Venue Safely best-practices guide, which outlines the dozens of steps music […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Survey seeks data on full impact of Covid-19 on city’s music economy
The city’s major music nonprofits have partnered with a national consulting firm to conduct a survey of the economic and some health impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on Austin’s music community. The survey from Music Cities Together, which is also being conducted free of charge in other cities across the country, aims to find out […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
City may begin evaluating creative spaces bond sites in June
The city expects to use real estate and economic development professionals from the Texas Facilities Commission to broker the acquisition of what may be multiple properties for local artists and musicians to use. An April 3 memo spells out the steps that will be taken to purchase creative spaces using $12 million in bond funding […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment
Music Commission seeks answers on lingering sound enforcement, ‘agent of change’ issues
The Music Commission has asked representatives from the Austin Police Department to attend its next meeting to discuss the delay in moving sound enforcement responsibilities from the police department to the city’s music office. At last week’s meeting, Rebecca Reynolds, president of the local Music Venue Alliance, said she has been looking into “a little […]