Local zoning laws are looking to make Restaurants, Coffeeshops and Bars in Albany pay an annual fee to the local government for hosting live music events. We all know small venues are closing up all over America since times are tough, but this plan to help stimulate Albany’s economy isn’t going to…
When I was a Senior in High School I booked shows in several small towns in Upstate New York near where I lived and worked. I was in between bands but wanted to feel like I was a part of the independent music scene, so I tried to create a vein directly between Albany and Kingston/Poughkeepsie where kids could see touring bands and touring bands could add an extra stop. In 2004 and 2005, my friend and I had Cartel, The Receiving End of Sirens, Plain White T’s, The Matches, Chiodos, Donnybrook, E-Town Concrete, the Sleeping, and various others in 100 capacity rooms. That immediately came to a screeching halt when I accidentally broke a window bringing PA speakers into the Conference Room of a Hotel that I booked out of in Hudson, NY. Despite immediately paying for the damage I caused, the Hotel asked that I lay down a $1,000 deposit at every single show I held, even if it contained only locals. As far as I know, every subsequent attempt at holding DIY shows in Hudson has been short-lived or immediately stifled.
Flash forward to 2012. Most of the venues in my new home of Albany cost hundreds of dollars to rent for the evening. Over top of damages that might be accrued and paying bar-tenders, bouncers, and sound people, I can understand this rental fee as some assurance that whether there are 10 people or 350 at the door the venue can keep its lights on. With the crackdown on basement show culture in Albany since the last Mayoral Election, these venues are basically the only places left where DIY promoters can showcase touring acts.
Add to these difficulties the Albany Common Council’s recently proposed “Cabaret Law.” Under this new regulation local businesses would have to submit an annual review to the City Clerk in order to obtain and pay for a Cabaret License. Without this license local coffee shops, bars, venues, restaurants, book stores, and record stores would not be able to hold open mic nights, trivia nights, karaoke, and of course, DIY punk and hardcore shows. The license is projected to cost small businesses an annual fee of $300-900. This doesn’t sound like much, but I promise you this will make it difficult for some and impossible for others to provide an atmosphere conducive to local, independent, and touring musicians. Keep in mind how quickly an added expense kept me from continuing to bring bands through Hudson. When given the chance, a business that is already struggling to stay above water will always choose not to do shows rather than pay an annual fee and deal with a municipal bureaucracy.
Please, make it known that this is not a solution but an added problem. Please, sign the petition or call your local officials. Please, give a shit.
http://www.change.org/petitions/reject-albanys-proposed-live-music-tax
