MADISON, Wisconsin Musicnotes recently announced that it had donated to the “We’re Ready In Time of Emergency Relief” (WRITER) Foundation, created by The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). The WRITER Foundation offers $1000 assistance grants for songwriters and composers experiencing economic hardship during the current U.S. COVID-19 pandemic. Musicnotes is a worldwide leader in digital sheet music, a staunch advocate for musicians’ artistic and legal rights, and a longtime partner of NSAI.
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“At Musicnotes, we foster the creation of music by advocating for and rewarding its creators,” said Kathy Marsh, Musicnotes CEO and Co-Founder. “We have a longstanding commitment to support songwriters and artists through legal commerce. We work hard to maintain a legal environment and protect intellectual property rights so that creators can make a living during these challenging times.”
The COVID-19 Pandemic: Devastating the Musical Arts Community
The pandemic is hurting a wide variety of industries, but certain victim populations are going unreported or unnoticed. For decades, the non-paying digitization of music has nearly crippled the songwriting industry, but COVID-19 is providing an even more acute strain on burdened artists. Live-performance venues, a reliable way for many musical artists to earn an income, have all but been completely shut down. And they are unlikely to open anytime soon. Exacerbating the problem, arts have traditionally been treated as both optional and discretionary. So, as relief efforts mobilize, musicians and other artists will be among the last to receive any help. Longtime advocates of musical artists of all kinds, both Musicnotes and NSAI hope to help alleviate some of this suffering by providing grants issued through The WRITER Foundation.
“Songwriters and the music industry have been hit hard by the Coronavirus epidemic,” said Bart Herbison, Executive Director of NSAI. “Even though the world is turning to music to help them get through this pandemic, a number of music income streams have drastically declined: from live music to advertising that helps generate royalties. Musicnotes and Kathleen Marsh have been extraordinary partners with NSAI for many years. So it was no surprise when they reached out to lend assistance to American songwriters through the WRITER Foundation, which will begin distributing grants this week. We thank them for their contributions.”
The new WRITER Foundation Board of Directors members will review the applications, including Josh Osborne, Lori McKenna, Jennifer Turnbow, Bart Herbison, Tim Nichols, Erika Wollam-Nichols, and Jimmy Yeary. Learn more at: www.WriterFoundation.org.
