Earlier this week, Reside Nation introduced the On The Street Once more program in an alleged try at serving to rising bands get again on the highway. However the huge conglomerate have gotten their share of flack, and The Nationwide Impartial Venue Affiliation (NIVA) launched a press release that very politely calls BS.

This initiative, which was introduced on September 26, would give “growing artists” a $1,500 stipend for fuel and journey in the event that they carry out at venues which can be a part of this system.

This instantly calls to thoughts a number of points, together with the truth that these venues usually are larger and tougher to get booked at, and that this solely helps them create a monopoly on phases. NIVA succinctly tells the corporate to take a protracted stroll off a brief pier of their official assertion:

“Momentary measures could seem to assist artists within the brief run however really can squeeze out impartial venues which offer the lifeblood of many artists on skinny margins. Impartial venues and promoters are investing in and elevating up-and-coming artists each day, and NIVA is supporting these efforts nationally. The initiative introduced yesterday could appear to be a transfer to comply with the lead of some impartial venues. It’s not that.

“As an alternative, it seems to be a calculated try to make use of a publicly-traded conglomerate’s immeasurable assets to divert artists from impartial venues and additional consolidate management over the dwell leisure sector. Such ways threaten the vitality of small and medium-sized venues beneath 3000 capability, a lot of which nonetheless wrestle to maintain their doorways open.

“Impartial phases, the place the vast majority of artists, musicians, and comedians begin their careers, are small companies and nonprofits. They’re regularly going through rising prices, elevated misleading ticketing practices within the resale market, and ongoing challenges following the worldwide pandemic. Our phases are important to the dwell leisure ecosystem and native economies, they usually should survive.

“The economics of touring should drastically enhance for artists and impartial venues. There needs to be a greater method. NIVA will proceed to help artists and empower impartial venues as we collectively discover it.”