Eagles, Pearl Jam, Guns N’ Roses Among Groups Receiving PPP Loans for Postponed Tours

demetrios
demetrios Posts: 99,888
edited July 2020 in The Porch

Eagles, Pearl Jam, Guns N’ Roses Among Groups Receiving PPP Loans for Postponed Tours

Green Day, Tool, Nickelback, Imagine Dragons, Weezer, Chainsmokers, and Chris Stapleton also granted loans as part of federal government’s relief plan for small businesses

By Ethan Millman

With concert tours almost completely shuttered through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic since March, some of the biggest acts in music — including the Eagles, Pearl Jam, Guns N’ Roses and Green Day — have received federal funding to support their crews for any current and future postponed tours, according to data released Monday by the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department. The financial support is part of the government’s recently enacted $2 trillion CARES act intended for relief to small businesses impacted by the coronavirus.

The Eagles, Pearl Jam and Disturbed took out some of the larger loans among the listed touring musicians, being granted somewhere between $350,000 and $1 million, and many of the other artists received between $150,000 and $350,000. Rolling Stone has identified more than 40 musicians and groups across all genres among the 660,000 recipients who were granted a loan for more than $150,000, according to the data, joined by small businesses such as restaurants and bars along with construction and plumbing companies.

Tool, Nickelback, Imagine Dragons, Weezer, Cheap Trick, Lil Jon, Chainsmokers, Wiz Khalifa, Disturbed, Papa Roach and the Head and the Heart have all received similar loans of varying amounts alongside country and Americana stars Rascal Flatts, Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell.

On Monday, the U.K. announced a $2 billion bailout for arts-related businesses  such as concert venues, but relief for live music has been mixed in the U.S. Since April, the National Independent Venue Association has pushed legislators to give more assistance to venues, which have been completely shut down over social distancing measures with little alternative means of revenue. NIVA, founded in April, started with about 800 participating venues and now has nearly 2,000 venues as members. In May NIVA said 90% of its venues couldn’t operate for more than six months without more government assistance. “You’ll see, in the public, a lot more closings that are happening,” NIVA vice president Justin Kantor previously told Rolling Stone. “Right now, there’s three or four venues a week that I’m hearing about, in the nation, that are announcing it publicly. But a lot of [others] are probably in just as bad shape — they just haven’t officially gotten the boot by their landlord.”

The loans are listed to the artists’ touring companies specifically, with the Eagles’ loan, for example, helping retain 50 jobs, the data says. Earlier in the pandemic, large corporations like burger chain Shake Shack returned small business loans after criticism. The Los Angeles Lakers, one of the world’s most valuable sports franchises, was also granted a loan but returned it.

The CARES Act passed in April after the coronavirus pandemic first came to head in the U.S. Along with the business loans, the legislation also introduced $1,200 stimulus checks to eligible recipients. Officials released the data following mounting pressure from media outlets, who previously sued the SBA for information on who was granted loans. Officials announced last month that the SBA would release the data.

Other music-related businesses have been granted loans too; Kanye West’s clothing company Yeezy was loaned between $2 million and $5 million, as was high-end guitar maker PRS. The Yeezy loan will help the company  106 people according to the data, and  West’s clothing line, most affiliated with his highly sought after Yeezy shoes, recently closed a deal with the Gap to bring a more affordable Yeezy line to the retailer, and earlier this year Forbes reported that West was officially a billionaire.

This is a developing story. 





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Comments

  • brewdog123
    brewdog123 ATL Posts: 686
    a lot of these bands have a large amount of touring employees, employees that could not work this year. how it goes...
    Atlanta, GA 8/7/00...Atlanta, GA 4/19/03...Columbia, SC 6/16/08...New Orleans, LA 5/1/10...East Troy, WI 9/3/11... East Troy, WI 9/4/11... Atlanta, GA 9/22/12...Greenville, SC 4/16/16...Nashville, TN 9/16/22...Atlanta, GA 4/29/25...Atlanta, GA 5/1/25
  • nicknyr15
    nicknyr15 Posts: 9,710
    Interesting 
  • cwja
    cwja Posts: 143
    Not cool. There was a finite amount of money available. They literally took money from a business that needed it. It’s a disease and they’re all green.
  • brewdog123
    brewdog123 ATL Posts: 686
    cwja said:
    Not cool. There was a finite amount of money available. They literally took money from a business that needed it. It’s a disease and they’re all green.
    pearl jam is a business that employs, probably hundreds of people, that goes for most of the other bands in that list. that is what it ($) is there for.
    Atlanta, GA 8/7/00...Atlanta, GA 4/19/03...Columbia, SC 6/16/08...New Orleans, LA 5/1/10...East Troy, WI 9/3/11... East Troy, WI 9/4/11... Atlanta, GA 9/22/12...Greenville, SC 4/16/16...Nashville, TN 9/16/22...Atlanta, GA 4/29/25...Atlanta, GA 5/1/25
  • cwja said:
    Not cool. There was a finite amount of money available. They literally took money from a business that needed it. It’s a disease and they’re all green.
    JFC. As others have pointed out, they have a lot of people that work for them that were depending on that income. This money isn't going to Ed, Jeff, Stone, Mike, and Matt. 
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  • PJINFLA
    PJINFLA Posts: 870
    Curious if the crew was paid by the band in 2019 when there was no tour?
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  • dr122931
    dr122931 Posts: 464
    I have no issue with this.  They didn’t fuck their employees.  The 5 band members lost lots of money and made sure their employees were paid.  I’m a partner  with a law firm and we did the same 
  • nicknyr15
    nicknyr15 Posts: 9,710
    dr122931 said:
    I have no issue with this.  They didn’t fuck their employees.  The 5 band members lost lots of money and made sure their employees were paid.  I’m a partner  with a law firm and we did the same 
    They had ways to generate income. Deftones , NIN , to name a few sold merch from canceled gigs to pay their crew. PJ could have easily did that. To me it’s not a good look. Just my opinion. Replace the name “Pearl Jam” with some other business with equal revenue and it would be a travesty to some people here. 
  • elvistheking44
    elvistheking44 Posts: 4,553
    The $ was intended for businesses  to pay employees, PJ is a business, what’s the problem?
  • cwja
    cwja Posts: 143
    I was wrong. There’s still money available for businesses that need it so I have zero problem with them taking the money. 
  • timdwilli
    timdwilli Posts: 297
    Obviously there are going to be varying opinions on this, but just looking at it strictly from an economical and PR perspective: those bands listed in the headline all have principal members with collective net worths north of $300M. I'm not sure taking a loan of $350k to $1M is worth the bad publicity (for those that see it that way, whether it's warranted or not). These bands are in a different position than wealthy owners who took out loans for their businesses because nobody knows who those owners are, and very few will face any public backlash. 
  • timdwilli said:
    Obviously there are going to be varying opinions on this, but just looking at it strictly from an economical and PR perspective: those bands listed in the headline all have principal members with collective net worths north of $300M. I'm not sure taking a loan of $350k to $1M is worth the bad publicity (for those that see it that way, whether it's warranted or not). These bands are in a different position than wealthy owners who took out loans for their businesses because nobody knows who those owners are, and very few will face any public backlash. 

  • Spiritual_Chaos
    Spiritual_Chaos Posts: 31,965
    edited July 2020
    When something like this happened in Sweden just a few weeks ago (cultural grants to artists) a lot of big successful names got flack (from colleagues and the media) for applying for and taking the grant and 1) gave the money back or 2) Declared/promised publically that the money was going to the crew and not themselves.
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  • on2legs
    on2legs Posts: 16,386

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  • JBob87
    JBob87 Posts: 486
    Wait, the band is receiving PPP but I am still waiting for my fan 2 fan ticket money?!

    It's a disease...
  • Merkin Baller
    Merkin Baller Posts: 12,796
    Meh 
  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 10,840
    I can’t tell if people are trying to make this an issue or not. This was meant for small businesses. People seem to be taking advantage of it appropriately. 
  • Go Beavers
    Go Beavers Posts: 9,764
    If you wanna bitch, then bitch about the Church of Scientology getting a loan. 
  • TN49724
    TN49724 Posts: 106
    There is so much unnecessary confusion around this program.  Did some people get money that arguably shouldn’t have? That’s such a subjective question.  Who is allowed to say some are better than others? It’s a federal program - so right there EVERYONE better know there is going to be a TON of waste and mischief.  On both sides of the aisle.  I have no problem w PJ getting money to help their crew.  

    I had to apply thru this program and had no issues.  What has amazed me is how many banks and companies have just staggering numbers of under-qualified employees who have no idea how to fill out and/or process basic forms.  And then complain on the back end that they couldn’t get money. 

    This program helped a lot of people.  I have seen it first hand. 
  • mcdevittpb
    mcdevittpb Posts: 253
    Perhaps some PPV live sets from the warehouse could bring in some revenue?