UK Arts, Music Rescue Funding Tops $2B vs $30M In US

The UK government has announced that the country’s arts, culture and heritage sector will receive a £1.57 ($2 billion USD) rescue package to help it recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The UK Ministry of the Treasury says this represents the biggest ever investment in cultural business and non-profits including music clubs, art galleries, and independent cinemas,

Some of the funding is in the form of grants, while others are loans with very favorable terms.

“Music Venue Trust warmly welcomes this unprecedented intervention into Britain’s world-class live music scene. We’d like to thank the Secretary of State and the team at DCMS for the opportunity to work closely together throughout this crisis to develop genuine solutions to the challenges faced by grassroots music venues. This fund provides the opportunity to stabilize and protect our vibrant and vital network of venues and gives us the time we need to create a plan to safely reopen live music,” said Mark Davyd, Music Venue Trust.

In The US…

Meanwhile, in the US just $30 million was earmarked for the Arts in March’s CARES Act federal funding.

The National Endowment for the Arts then awarded the funds to the 50 states, the District of Columbia and several of the territories including Puerto Rico.

“By Congressional mandate, 40 percent of the agency’s CARES Act funding goes to state and territorial arts agencies and regional arts organizations for their funding programs, ensuring distribution throughout the country,” said The National Endowment for the Arts in a statement. “These funds will be re-granted in order to preserve jobs and facilities costs.”