Unite Against Bill No. 100267!

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On April 22, City Councilmen Darrell Clarke and Bill Greenlee introduced Bill No. 100267, which would encumber event promoters with a slew of new requirements and restrictions...

Under the proposed rules, promoters would have to apply for a permit from the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) 30 days before every single event — meaning if you promote a weekly club night, that's 52 permit applications per year . More than just a bureaucratic nightmare, this would all but abolish last-minute shows or pickup parties. These applications would have to include detailed security plans, the promoter's business-privilege-license number, the venue's capacity and the expected crowd. Perhaps most importantly, the bill would hold promoters liable for the actions of the crowds at the events they promote.

Additionally, the bill requires that every permit application include a copy of the contract between the venue and the promoter — in effect, making rental prices and rates for each individual promoter a matter of public record . To make matters worse, the cops can deny a permit for any reason and without explanation up to 10 days before the event — which could devastate businesses that fronted costs, to say nothing of destroying the credibility of those trying to book events.

To: Anna Verna, Darrell Clarke, and Bill Greenlee
Subject: I Strongly Oppose Bill 100267
 

Dear Council President Verna and Councilmen Clarke and Greenlee,

I am writing to tell you that I strongly oppose Bill No. 100267, the "promoter bill." If passed, it will cripple the large, complex network of independent music venues and promoters who are simply not built to accommodate these types of regulations.

Independent music relies heavily on donations of time, money, and space. The mostly-volunteer promoters put together events in their spare time, not for profit, but for a love of art and to enrich the world around them. This bill places unnecessary stress and unreasonable administrative overhead on people and small organizations who are completely incapable of complying with the law and, as a result, will force the preemptive cancellation of thousands of events every year. The damage to Philadelphia's active independent music scenes will be a major blow to not only the bands, listeners, promoters, and host venues of these events but to the city on the whole by damaging a key area of its rich cultural diversity. It will send waves throughout the economies tied directly to music and discourage the legions of artists, musicians, and music-fans from visiting, moving, and attending colleges and universities in Philadelphia.

For some time, Philadelphia has been viewed in the independent music world as a symbol of how a city should be: countless bands, a seemingly-unending list of diverse musical events, and supportive fans. Bill 100267 limits the ability of promoters to schedule events. It discourages venues from donating space because of the administrative overhead and liability that will be forced upon them. Because permits can be cancelled up to 10 days before an event, it creates a new, unacceptable risk when promoting an event -- after all, it can be cancelled by the police at any time for any reason. It also places a substantial financial burden on the city's own administrative staff to sift through the mountain of paperwork it will generate in order to grant these free permits.

I urge you to remove this bill from the city's agenda. Live music events are responsibile for only a fraction of a fraction of the problems in this city but if passed, this bill will have a significant, immediate impact on tens of thousands of individuals who operate within the legal limits of the law.

Thank you,

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