How to Support Local Musicians and Music Industry Workers During the Covid Era
Well… it happened. We’re here again - in the red. We can’t eat inside restaurants, enjoy the company of friends at bars, or be graced with the gift of in-person live music of any kind. So many people are hurting right now, and the music community is one of the top industries when it comes to lost income due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The local scene and independent venues have been hit especially hard, as many don’t have a security fund to fall back on. Local venue owners, full-time musicians, stage hands, lighting designers, sound engineers, and others involved behind the scenes have likely put everything they’ve got into the role they love. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t support your friends who are musicians or who work behind the scenes in the industry. Here’s how:
Musicians:
Buy Their Music
While it’s easy to stream the music of almost any musician - including the local ones - it benefits the artist far more to buy their music directly. When you stream, the artist gets a tiny fraction of a royalty per play. For instance, when you stream on Spotify, the song rights holder receives only $0.006 - $0.0084 per stream (QZ). Depending on how the deal is set up, that tiny sum then may have to be split between the artist, the producer, the songwriter, and more, making an already tiny earning microscopic. In contrast, when you purchase a song for $0.99 on iTunes or Amazon Music, the person who holds the rights to the song receives $0.60-$0.70 per song purchase (SongCast Music). That adds up much more quickly than the tiny payment from Spotify. It’s even better if you purchase their albums or songs directly from their website. In many cases, close to 100% of this profit goes back to the artist.
Tune Into Their Live Streams and Donate
I’ve talked to many musicians, and when I ask them what their favorite part of being a musician is, many respond that it’s the energy circle from crowd to musician and back at a live show. Right now, we can’t have crowds at live shows; We can’t even have live in-person shows. The only way we can share live music is through live streaming. If your favorite local band, or even your friend’s local band, is having a live stream, they want to see people viewing. They’re looking for a glimmer of that energy that they’d get at a live show. Instead of ignoring these invites, tune in and support. This goes so far to boost the morale of musicians who have lost the ability to practice the craft they love. It’s easy to tune in on your phone, computer, tablet, or tv, and rock out to some great local tunes. If you’re feeling generous and are financially able, donate! Most live streams will have the donation information on the video or in the comments. A little goes a long way towards helping musicians pay their bills.
Buy Their Merch
Buying a t-shirt, hat, or koozie is a win-win in the world of music. Selling merchandise is one of the best ways for bands to make money, as t-shirts or other specialty items offer the artist the highest profit possible. On the other hand, you get to rock a sweet new tee or beanie repping your favorite local band. Usually, you can purchase bands’ merchandise on their websites and have it shipped to you, so it’s a 100% no contact experience.
Join Their Patreon
During Covid (and before), many bands and musicians have turned to Patreon as a means for covering costs and connecting with fans. Patreon is a website that allows fans, family, and friends to buy monthly memberships to a creative’s account. In turn, the members receive exclusive access to new merch, a peek behind the scenes, early access to new music, personalized video messages, and many more perks from the bands or musicians they follow. Patreon is a great way to give that local musician you know a steady monthly income that they can count on, even if it’s only $5.00 - $10.00.
Stream Their Music
Not everyone may have the money right now to spend on anything except bills. Much of the country is in a financial lurch, with many individuals unsure how they’re going to make ends meet or pay their rent by the first of the month. That’s ok. You can still help! If you can’t afford to purchase an artists’ music, streaming it does have benefits as well. First, the band or musician you’re listening to does make a tiny bit of money off of each stream. Most artists would also rather their music be heard than not. However, the main benefit of listening is that you increase a song’s overall play, which folds into how often the song is recommended to new listeners by the algorithm. The Spotify algorithm (BART - Brandits for Recommendations), is complicated and we’ll get to it in another post. Basically, the more 30+ second listens and the less skips the better. You can help even more by following local artists on Spotify and adding their tracks to your personal playlists. This helps their songs get onto Spotify’s curated playlists, where the real magic happens. In addition, when artists are touring or booking shows, it also helps them get noticed when they have a lot of streams.
Share & Promote
The other completely free thing you can do to help local artists is to share and promote them. Share their posts, music, and profile on social media, being sure to tag them in the description so your friends can easily follow them. You can directly invite your friends to like their Facebook page as well. If you’re talking to family or friends on the phone or Zoom, tell them about this awesome new local band you just discovered and encourage them to check them out too and support them in all the ways mentioned in this article.
Make Sure They’re OK
The Covid-19 Pandemic has directly affected every single person around the world. Musicians and artists have lost the great majority, if not all, of their work for the time being. That’s a hard pill to swallow, and can cause depression in some. Call and text your musician friends. Let them know you’re there and that what they’re doing still makes a difference. Hearing a friendly or encouraging voice can make all the difference on those dark days.
Music Industry Workers:
Share Their Work
Musicians are only the face of the crisis that Covid-19 has caused in the music industry. Hundreds of thousands of people who make their living as stage hands, sound engineers, recording engineers, producers, venue owners, promoters, lighting designers, photographers, videographers, music bloggers, graphic designers, etc. have lost their income and livelihood because of the pandemic. Some musicians even make their living doing any number of these things on the side. If you know someone who is (or was) employed in one of these careers, share and promote their work on social media and by word of mouth. Getting their work out there can help them find work in the future and build their brand for when things go back to normal, whenever that may be.
Commission Them
Perhaps you are working on a project that needs a videographer or photographer. Maybe you’re putting something cool together that would be even cooler with professional lighting or a helping hand from a VJ. Make sure you consider these out of work folks for these jobs. Many are ready and willing to go outside of the music industry to practice their craft.
Keep Your Ear to the Ground
Have you heard of a job at a side a hustle that a friend or peer is looking to fill? Do you need a little help editing a video or getting family photos done? Make sure you keep your ear to the ground for work that might suit music industry workers. Everyone is just trying to get by right now, and having a side job that’ll help make ends meet can really help someone out. Social media has a lot of negatives to it, but it also is still a great place for networking and introducing a job seeker to someone trying to fill a job.
Support the Cause
There are a few non-profits and government initiatives to help struggling music industry workers. These are great causes to donate to, volunteer for, or make your voice heard through. Below, I’ve listed a few, a little bit about each, and how you can find out more:
Colorado Music Relief Fund
The Colorado Music Relief Fund, in partnership with large companies like Breckenridge Brewery, KBCO, LiveNation, and Bohemian Foundation, and with several local companies, works to put on events to raise money to distribute to anyone facing financial consequences from Covid-19 in Colorado’s music community.
Summit Musicians Relief Fund (SMRF)
Summit Musicians Relief Fund (SMRF), is a 501-c-3 non-profit in Summit County Colorado. SMRF helps local Summit County musicians who are confronted with major medical hardships through donations and concert fundraising.
Sweet Relief Musicians Fund
Sweet Relief Musicians Fund focuses on the mission of healing musicians in need. In their words, “Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians and music industry workers who are struggling to make ends meet while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. In other words, Healing Musicians in Need. We all have received so much out of music, it's time to give a little back!” Sweet Relief has a fund especially for Covid-19-related help.
NIVA Save our Stages
The National Independent Venue Association’s #SaveOurStages initiative focuses on the mission to “preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live event venues and promoters throughout the United States.” NIVA is pushing Congress to pass The Save Our Stages Act, which would provide relief to the thousands of indpendent music venues facing the bleak outlook of closing their doors due to the pandemic. Currently, the act is in the final push. On their website, you can fill out a letter to send to your legislators to help the bill pass.
Crown Royal’s “If You Want Me to Stay”
I saw a commercial for this on TV the other night and it brought me to tears. This has apparently been a thing for quite some time, but I’m just now finding out about it. Crown Royal has partnered with Main Street Alliance, Ari Lennox, and Anthony Ramos to release a cover of “If You Want Me to Stay” by S.L.Y and the Family Stone to help raise awareness for the bars, clubs, and stages in local communities across America that are in danger of closing due to the pandemic. According to Crown Royal, “For every stream of “If You Want Me to Stay” available on all major streaming platforms Crown Royal will donate to Main Street Alliance in effort to help bars, clubs and stages in communities all over the country.”
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Make Sure They’re OK
Again, just calling or texting to check in with your music industry friends can make all of the difference in the world. Give them a ring to just talk and let them know they’re not on their own. There will be an end to this. Live music will live again. When it’s all over, we won’t have gotten through the pandemic without music and the local workers who make it happen.