Italy’s music sector allotted €50m after ‘The Last Concert’

Italy’s music industry has been allocated €50 million by the government following ‘The Last Concert?’ (L’ultimo Concerto?), a campaign which has been defined as ‘one of the largest webmobs’ the sector has seen.

The initiative, promoted by KeepOn Live, Arci and Assomusica in collaboration with Live DMA, launched on social media at the end of January when Italian venues posted images with the year of foundation and the year 2021 with a question mark to suggest that the crisis may force the permanent closure of these spaces sooner rather than later.

The culmination of the campaign involved 130 Italian venues livestreaming ‘silent’ performances from renowned artists including Lacuna Coil on 27 February, marking a full year since the first venues closed and stages fell silent.

Two days after the event, minister for culture Dario Franceschini announced that a new decree had been signed, allocating €50m for live clubs, concerts, authors, artists, performers and performers.

Fifteen million euros is dedicated to live clubs and other operators in the live music sector, €10m to concert organisers to compensate losses due to cancelled dates or missed dates, and €25m to authors, performers and performers for missed collections.

AssociaMusica, the Italian association of live event organisers and producers, says The Last Concert has given way to ‘a new phase of reflection and awareness’ about the future and sustainability of the sector.

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