The COVID-19 pandemic has been an especially trying time for the world’s most historic venues, which are facing extinction due to live music coming to a standstill. Enter Save Our Stages music festival, a new project constructed by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) in partnership with YouTube with a mission to combat these closures. The organization brought together some of the biggest names in music to take over 25 unique venues across the US for a special livestream event that took place October 16th to 18th. Marshmello and Demi Lovato took the stage at the legendary Troubadour in Los Angeles—a venue that found itself in danger of permanent closure following the onset of the pandemic. There they showcased their new single ...
The charitable foundation MusiCares, an organization dedicated towards supporting music industry professionals in need of financial assistance, has run out of monetary resources. Amid the ongoing pandemic, MusiCares launched their COVID-19 Relief Fund last month, which has drawn an unprecedented influx of applications. The depletion of funds has now caused the organization to halt new applications for the time being. The fund, which was started with two $1 million donations from the organization itself as well as its affiliate, The Recording Academy, went on to raise $14 million in total. The resources were raised from individuals as well as charitable corporate partners including SiriusXM, Spotify, and Pandora. However, as the pandemic has persisted, the orga...