MusiCares’ COVID-19 relief efforts raised over $22 million for more than 24,000 music creators in need
“Thousands of artists across the country … just started doing their own performances from their homes to try to raise money for MusiCares to support their friends and their community.”
encouraging them to consider how they can help the music ecosystem thrive again. Congress reached a bipartisan agreement for a $900 billion coronavirus relief package on Dec. 21. The 5,593-page legislation was signed into law on Dec. 28, allocating $15 billion as a lifeline for performance venues and promoters through the Save Our Stages Act. The CASE Act, previously introduced in 2019, will create a small claims system for resolving infringement cases. As outlined in the bill, copyright owners could be awarded up to $30,000 if they find their creative work being shared online in a meme or video. Wrapped in the package are also critical provisions for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and small business loans. But the road to a full recovery is a long one. “We’re hoping by the second half of the year, between the vaccine and testing, concerts will be able to reopen and our people will be able to get back to work,” Friedman says. “They
don’t want to live by a government program. They want to live by their craft, and they want to make their music, and they want to share their music with the public.” To provide some musical relief after a tough year, the Academy chose to move forward with its 63rd annual GRAMMY Awards telecast. The organization has implemented necessary precautions to host the show, including the use of satellite locations, pre-recorded content and limiting the number of artists that can be in a room or stage at one time. They hope to create memorable GRAMMY Moments following an unforgettable year. The Recording Academy has remained optimistic through trying times, and it shows through the work put in internally and externally. From changing the names of multiple awards categories — in June, they dropped the term “urban” — to addressing claims of conflicts of interest by tightening rules for the awards and nominations process and making the official GRAMMY Awards Rulebook publicly available for the first time, every change is intentional. They are earning the trust of members and the music community. “I think everybody at the Academy recognizes there’s more we can do, and we can do it better,” Mason says. “I’ve felt nothing but support and excitement for a change. I think everyone realizes that for us to be effective, we need to evolve.” ○
Eric Diep has written for Billboard, Complex, Vulture, HipHopDX, and XXL. He is a freelance journalist based in New York.
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