Live Music Fund reforms see improved compliance among local musicians

City staff told members of the Music Commission on Monday that nearly all recipients in the current cycle of the city’s Live Music Fund grant program are in compliance with reporting requirements — a marked improvement from the program’s pilot year, when dozens of musicians failed to complete necessary documentation. Staff attributed the stronger performance in fiscal year 2024 to structural changes made in response to issues encountered during the inaugural round of grants.

Of the 136 grants awarded for FY24, 135 recipients signed agreements, and all but two completed orientation and financial documentation. As of early July, more than 60 percent had received a second payment, and about 25 percent had already submitted final reports, even though the current cycle allows for a two-year completion window. Staff said the shift away from rigid project requirements and toward more flexible funding criteria has helped musicians stay on track.

The city launched the Live Music Fund Event Program in fiscal year 2023 to provide direct support to local musicians and promoters using hotel occupancy tax revenue. That initial round awarded 367 grants, with 41 at $5,000 and 326 at $10,000 to fund “specific future projects” carried out over a one-year period. But by last summer, 56 recipients remained out of compliance with the grant agreement terms, either by failing to submit final reports or by not responding at all to repeated city outreach. According to staff, approximately $395,000 in distributed funds remain unverified due to incomplete reporting.

During Monday’s meeting, representatives from the Office of Arts, Culture, Music and Entertainment (ACME) outlined several contributing factors to the compliance issues in the pilot year. Among them were problems with a city-developed online portal that eventually had to be abandoned mid-program, a lack of grant experience among recipients and personal or logistical challenges that complicated reporting. Additionally, staff said the grant structure, which required applicants to deliver a narrowly defined project, proved incompatible with the unpredictable nature of the live music industry.

“These are musicians who are individuals, and they may be managing a band, and they may be for the first time putting together an event, doing a first-ever recording… and they don’t have any staff,” said Kim McCarson, a program manager for the Music and Entertainment Division who has spent months attempting to reconnect with delinquent recipients via phone, email and text messages. “I’m always happy to hold their hand and walk them through the process and do as much as I can to get them through it. That was especially confusing with the 2023 grant because we had to pivot from the portal system, which wasn’t really workable.”

A formal three-step notification process has been established that concludes with a termination notice for awardees who do not respond, making them ineligible for future city funding. Staff said they are still attempting to recover documentation from many of the remaining participants and have not yet determined what enforcement measures, if any, might be taken in cases where reports are never submitted.

Commissioners were generally supportive of the staff’s efforts to increase compliance, while also asking for clarity on how long outreach would continue and whether repayment could be required. Others emphasized the importance of making support resources more visible to the broader music community, not just to those selected for funding.

Following the missteps from the 2023 cohort, the city restructured the application process and grant agreements for the current fiscal year. Applicants are no longer scored based on detailed proposals for future events, but instead on past work and a demonstrated ability to manage funding. The new approach also included longer grant terms and increased award amounts so as to reduce the overall number of recipients and allow for more one-on-one support from staff.

Commission Chair Nagavalli Medicharla said the city should continue to learn from the pilot program, noting that a delinquency rate of 15 to 20 percent for a program launch is to be expected.

“Looking at the progress from 2024, things are pretty much on track and we are not going to run into this kind of a situation again. For the pilot year, we are talking about a 15 to 20 percent delinquent status at this point and it doesn’t seem like a very significant number to me, even though 60 does seem like a pretty high number,” she said. “I also appreciate that we are acknowledging that this is a community that is very new to grants, unlike folks on the art side and that we are offering grace and your support.”

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