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Live Nation launches $10m Crew Nation fund

Crew Nation is a new fund created by Live Nation to offer financial support to backstage staff – the ‘backbone’ of the live industry

By Anna Grace on 01 Apr 2020

Live Nation launches $10m Crew Nation fund

"Crew members are the backbone of the live music industry"


image © Jorge Royan/Wikimedia Commons

Live entertainment behemoth Live Nation has set up a relief fund to support touring and venue crews through the coronavirus pandemic.

The company has committed $10 million to the Crew Nation fund, contributing an initial $5m directly – including $250,000 personally from CEO Michael Rapino and his family – and matching the next $5m donated by artists, fans and employees dollar for dollar.

“Live music inspires millions around the world, but the concerts we all enjoy wouldn’t be possible without the countless crew members working behind the scenes,” reads a Live Nation statement. “As Covid-19 puts concerts on pause, we want to extend a helping hand to the touring and venue crews who depend on shows to make a living.”

The fund will give financial aid to crew members, “the backbone of the live music industry”, including tour managers, production managers, riggers, sound engineers, lighting technicians and special effects teams.

“As Covid-19 puts concerts on pause, we want to extend a helping hand to the touring and venue crews who depend on shows to make a living”

Crew members are among the most affected by the coronavirus live event shutdown, with many working on a self-employed or freelance basis and unable to practise their profession from home, unlike more office-based workers.

Although governments including those in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia and the USA have put in financial measures to aid the self-employed, some say measures are not available soon enough and are not applicable in many cases.

Donations to Crew Nation can be made directly or through purchasing limited edition Crew Nation merchandise.

The fund is powered by charitable organisation Music Forward Foundation, which will select recipients of funding “based on an objective determination of need”. Live Nation employees are not eligible to receive funding.

Photo: Jorge Royan/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) (cropped)

 


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