ASCAP, BMI, SESAC Join MusiCares Relief Fund

• Several major performing rights organizations, including the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), and SESAC announced that they are contributing to create a special fund as part of the MusiCares® COVID-19 Relief Fund to support music creators who are affected by the coronavirus pandemic. While the COVID-19 Relief Fund was created to help all music industry workers in need, the funds collected from these organizations will be focused on helping their respective songwriters, composers and lyricists. Members and affiliates of each contributing PRO are encouraged to apply for a grant through the COVID-19 relief fund via musicares.org.

Since the fund’s establishment in March, with initial seed donations of $1 million each by MusiCares and the Recording Academy, millions more have been raised with the support of numerous partners. However, more is needed to meet the growing demand.

Harvey Mason Jr., Chair & Interim President/CEO of the Recording Academy®, said, “It’s inspiring to see every sector of the music industry band together during a time of need. With the help of these latest contributions and the generous donations over the past few weeks, we’ve been able to garner more than $10 million to provide aid for music people across all genres, crafts and disciplines affected by the coronavirus pandemic. That said, the need is still so great and these times remain critical for music people.”

Steve Boom, Chair of MusiCares, remarked, “We’re thrilled to see the continued support from organizations to help all the people who were depending on their next gig to make ends meet. There is still much more work to be done, and we hope that those who have supported us will continue to inspire others to do what’s needed for the music industry during this unprecedented time.” If you wish to support these efforts to assist music professionals in need, please visit grammy.com/MusiCares/CoronavirusReliefFund.