It's time for independent venues, bookers, agents and managers to turn up the volume in Washington, music industry veteran Laurel Stearns writes in a guest column.
A week ago, I hopped on a Zoom call not knowing what to expect. The Town Hall-style conference was for a newly formed non-profit organization called The National Independent Talent Organization, or NITO . I knew there would be a solid showing of people on this call, figuring maybe around 40 to 50 attendees from the independent music business. That was not the case.
Within this newly formed organization, where there are 14 co-founders, NITO members have been continuously educating themselves as they navigate these uncharted waters. In working to identify the collective needs of the independent space, NITO estimates that just from their original 14 founders alone, more than 40,000 concerts were booked by NITO founders across the U.S. with over 12.5 million tickets sold, generating in excess of a half-billion dollars in gross ticket sales annually.
How important is the indie sector? It has the collective strength of thousands of independent agents and managers, production professionals, touring crew, venue staff and ticketing personnel, among countless other roles. In 2019, over a billion dollars in revenue can be credited to the independents. These hard-working professionals are invisible to most — we are not public figures — but we are integral to helping create the fan experience.
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