Minister Martin launches €50m support schemes for live performance sector

The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD, has announced €50 million worth of measures to support the commercial live performance sector to assist producers, promoters, venues and musicians.

Included in the measured announced today is a significantly enhanced Live Performance Support Scheme (LPSS); a new support for sole traders and music businesses to pay fixed costs; a new capital fund to install recording facilities for live streaming; and a new local performance scheme this summer for villages and town centres.

Following huge demand for the pilot LPSS last year, a fund of €25 million will be made available for 2021.

“I am very pleased to announce the commencement of these schemes which will help support Ireland’s entertainment industry so they can weather the storm of ongoing closures due to the crisis," Minister Catherine Martin said of the news.

“This range of measures will assist commercial venues, producers and promoters to do what they do best – make work for audiences - and provide a valuable asset to our society missing culture and entertainment. In addition, the new measures support the indispensable bed rock of our music industry assisting businesses, performers, musicians and crew," the Green Party Minister added.

“We as a nation need to continue to see and experience Irish art and this scheme will provide wellbeing benefits to both participants and members of the public through the high quality performances made available online in 2021. I look forward to the roll out of these support schemes which will provide a much needed and vital support for the live performance sector.”

The enhanced Live Performance Support Scheme will provide significant job opportunities in the live performance sector through the continued production of high quality artistic output.

The objective is to support employment and wellbeing opportunities in the live performance sector across all genres and continued high quality artistic output for the general public.

Key features of the LPSS include the support of live performances that will occur on or before 30th September 2021 as well as the creation of employment and wellbeing opportunities in the culture and creative industries. The scheme is aimed at commercial venues, producers and promoters in the culture sector, with awards ranging from €10,000 upwards set to be made available.

The Live Performance Support Scheme 2021 will be open for applications from March 19, 2021 until April 14.

❗️Minister @cathmartingreen launches new €50m suite of measures for the Live Performance Sector.
✅€25m – Live Performances
✅€14m – Live entertainment businesses
✅€5m – Local authorities
✅€5m – capital supports
✅ €1m – St Patrick’s Festival
➡️https://t.co/ATcZeeFhRE pic.twitter.com/wfCU5YazIE

— Tourism-Culture-Arts-Gaeltacht-Sport-Media (@DeptCulturelRL) March 9, 2021

As a further support measure for those in the live music entertainment industry, the Minister is announcing funding of up to €14m for a new scheme to make a contribution to the overheads of businesses that have been significantly negatively affected by COVID-19 and that do not qualify for other business supports.

The main features of this new Music Entertainment Business Assistance Scheme (MEBAS) will see support offered by way of two levels of flat payments: €2,500 for businesses with a VAT-exclusive turnover of €20,000 - €100,000; €5,000 for businesses with a VAT-exclusive turnover in excess of €100,000.

Self-employed businesses (sole traders, partnerships and incorporated entities) operating only within the commercial live entertainment sector are eligible to apply for the scheme, which is expected to open next month.

€5m will also be allocated to local authorities to facilitate programming of outdoor live performances in summer 2021 animating town centres for local communities, should public health considerations permit. It will allow for the procurement by local authorities of performances by local performers. A separate €5m will be available for a scheme of capital supports for the commercial live entertainment sector. This will be applied to supporting the installation of high quality recording and streaming facilities in venues through a competitive grant application process.

Lastly, as previously announced, up to €1 million has been allocated for the St. Patrick’s Festival 2021 to support the employment of performers, producers, artists, technicians, creatives and support staff.

In addition, the Minister announced today that she is establishing the Return to Live Entertainment Working Group to develop overarching Covid-19 sectoral guidance for the live entertainment sector. The establishment of this group addresses a recommendation of the Arts and Culture Recovery Taskforce.

The Department will have regard to the recommendations of the Night-time Economy Taskforce within the implementation and rollout of the measures.

“I want to see the safe return to live music and entertainment as soon as public health restrictions allow. The schemes announced today will see the sector supported in the months ahead and return to work, albeit in a limited capacity," Minister Catherine Martin stated today.

"The Live Entertainment industry has extensive expertise in developing health and safety protocols and, following two successful test pilot events in 2020, I now intend to establish a consultative stakeholder forum that will help solidify the guidance for reopening and returning to live performance."