COVID-19 Ressources for Artists

Several organizations are collectively raising funds for several music-oriented nonprofits at once. For example, through Spotify’s COVID-19 Music Relief project, the streaming service will match donations made via its landing page to Help Musicians UK, MusiCares, PRS Foundation and Unison Benevolent Fund dollar-for-dollar, up to a collective total of $10 million. PLUS1, a nonprofit that partners with artists to donate $1 from each of their concert tickets sold to a cause of their choice, is raising a collective COVID-19 fund in partnership with a growing list of organizations including Sweet Relief, MusiCares, Center for Disaster Philanthropy, World Central Kitchen, Partners In Health, Trans Lifeline and local homelessness organizations.

For those interested in genre-specific donations, the Jazz Foundation has established a dedicated COVID-19 Musicians’ Emergency Fund, while New Music USA has a Solidarity Fund for “new/creative/improvised music freelancers.” Artist Relief Tree, an independent COVID-19 relief fund for artists founded by several classical and performing-arts leaders, has entered Phase II of its fundraising campaign, with the aim of raising a total of $1 million.

For those interested in donating directly to venues, discount ticketing platform Goldstar has published a list of hundreds of live venues and event producers in the U.S. that are accepting donations of between $10 and $50.

There are several options for fans interested in contributing to organizations dedicated to supporting the U.S. music economy. The Recording Academy and MusiCares established a $2 million COVID-19 relief fund on Tuesday, which will offer grants up to $1,000 each to qualifying music-industry professionals who need basic living assistance. (The size of those grants can potentially increase if more music organizations and members of the public donate to the fund, which you can do here.)

Sweet Relief, a nonprofit focused on providing financial aid to musicians with illness, disability, or age-related problems, has opened up a dedicated COVID-19 fund for musicians and industry workers who are medically affected by the coronavirus. Classical-focused events organization Equal Sound is accepting donations for its own Corona Relief Fund, while the Musicians Foundation explicitly states that donating $200 or $400 to their site will “directly assist one or two musicians in need,” respectively, for at least one week (they also accept custom donation amounts).