Jay Sweet is the executive director of the Newport Festivals Foundation. The foundation recently announced that it established the Newport Festivals Musician Relief Fund to help provide financial assistance to musicians in Newport’s folk and jazz communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sweet spoke with Providence Business News about the fund and how local artists have been affected.
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PBN: Kindly explain the fund the foundation has set up.
SWEET: What this is are funds that we previously allocated to this year. We partner with artists every time they confirm to play our events to choose a music fund. Before they play the event, we make a donation in their name to a fund that means something to them. Fortunately, all of the artists have asked that the fund we support in their name is this fund, which is going out to artists who filled out the grant requests. We’re using all the money that had been portioned to go out to music initiatives that our artists cared about and now are putting it out to artists who need it to get through this critical time.
This wasn’t a fundraiser. But people have given us more money to go into the fund. More people are continually applying for the fund, and money is going out. While money is going out, some money is going in. It’s an ongoing thing. There’s just unsolicited [people] just [donating]. It’s a pretty amazing thing.
PBN: How much of a hit has the arts scene taken with this pandemic?
SWEET: Massive. Eighty percent of every dollar musicians make is in touring, and there is no touring. It doesn’t exist. Touring gets merchandise income, and when they’re on the road playing live, selling merchandise, they get people interested in their music and they stream those artists. So, without touring, they’re going from X amount of income to zero. There is zero incoming money for the foreseeable future.
PBN: What is the biggest challenge that artists are facing right now?
SWEET: There isn’t a way [for them] to make money. They could do tip jars and say, “Hey, come to my website,” but it will never come close to equating [to a live show]. A waiter can’t wait on a table, and most of their money is made on tips. If you can’t go out to the place, you can’t even ask for the tips because you can’t do the first job.
There’s just no way, especially hand-to-mouth artists that need this tour to survive, they literally can’t get gas in the tank. They need it both spiritually and literally gas in the tank, and playing live gives them both. I have well-known musicians telling me they’re about to go on food stamps or they’re going to move into their van because they can’t pay rent. The need is immediate.
PBN: Can the arts scene quickly recover from this?
SWEET: One thing that’s going to happen is everyone is going to book tours at once, so there’s no staggering. It’s like dumping supply onto the marketplace. Even if you say everyone is cured on Memorial Day, to ramp up a tour – nail down 10 dates in 10 days – imagine people calling up the rooms that may or may not exist. The venues have been closed with no income and no staff. This will not be instantaneous. This will have a lasting effect.
What’s really difficult is everything that we’re doing right now [social distancing and not working] is against our human nature. At one point, there will be a leeriness at first [to be back out in public], but it will be a cathartic experience and people will want to congregate, especially around music.
PBN: Are the Newport folk and jazz festivals at risk of canceling?
SWEET: Everything is at risk of being canceled, including our events. But, I have a good direct relationship with the governor [Gina M. Raimondo]. She’s trying everything and we’re trying everything to make sure that doesn’t happen. Along with the economic impact for the state it has, [the two festivals are] mostly something Rhode Island and our families are super proud of. It’s something I know the state is proud of. Rhode Island has these two festivals and they are what make Rhode Island. I think that we all want them to happen. If we can miraculously do it, it will be a sense of normalcy that people really want.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
