Promoters Ordinance Threatens Chicago Music Community

As you may have heard, the City of Chicago is currently considering a "Promoters Ordinance". Although the ordinance was tabled last week, it has not completely disappeared, and in fact, will likely reappear on the city council schedule sometime in the near future. What’s this ordinance all about, you ask? Essentially, the city of Chicago wants to require a “Promoters License” for any independent promoter seeking to throw an event. This license would require the promoter be 21 or over, get fingerprinted, obtain $300,000 of insurance and pay fees of $500 to $2000, depending on the size of their event. Jim Derogatis at the Chicago Sun Times has done some excellent and thorough reporting on the ordinance at his blog, and Scott Smith at Time Out Chicago has interviews with some alderman and others here.

Like other devotees of the Chicago music community, we here at the Women On Women Music Program are concerned about the impact the Promoters Ordinance might have on the local music scene and the ability of the “little gal” to throw concerts. 99% of the people we play on our show wouldn’t have gotten their start without that basement show or local night promoted by a kid they knew in high school. To see the little indie promoters helping underground acts get shows disappear would be devastating for the Chicago music community, especially for local and unsigned artists. The ordinance also unfairly singles out small venues and venues without seating, such as Metro, Martyrs and Double Door. We also worry that the exemption for non-profit organizations is too narrowly defined that it is possible this could even apply to some of the benefits we’ve done for WLUW in the past.

It seems to us that this ordinance is unnecessary, as current regulation of venues is intense and efficient. We urge you to write your alderman and tell them to oppose this ordinance. You can find your alderman and his or her contact info here -
http://www.chicityclerk.com/citycouncil/alderman/find.html

The Chicago Music Commission is also collecting comments on the ordinance, which will be presented to city council members. The survey is a little confusing, so to help you decode it, here's how we voted:

"The Public Performance and Amusement (PPA) licensing system currently in place works to keep events at PPA spaces well managed and safe."
AGREE We don't believe any more regulation is necessary. Independent promoters are already covered by regulations governing PPAs, that is, venues.

"The City's proposed language exempting a promoter seeking to do business with a venue that has 500 or more seats from needing a license but requiring a promoter to receive a license in order to do business with a venue with that has less than 500 seats will ensure safer shows."
DISAGREE Any regulation should be across the board for large and small venues alike. Targeting only small venues or venues without a lot of seats is unfair, negatively affects small businesses, and will have no impact on safety.

"Exempting promoters working with venues that have seats bolted into the ground from being a license will make live music shows safer."
DISAGREE Seats being bolted to the ground or mobile will have no affect on safety.

"Individuals under 21 years old should not be allowed to promote events in Chicago." DISAGREE Many of Chicago's most successful music business leaders began their careers as teenagers. Forcing them to wait until they are 21 will stunt growth of new business, and will have no affect on safety.

Don't delay - write your alderman and fill out the survey TODAY!