Music and Entertainment Community Statement on Final Passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021

Washington, D.C. - Today representatives of the American music and entertainment community issued the following statement on the passage of the COVID-19 relief and economic stimulus bill. 

“The American Rescue Plan provides absolutely essential economic relief for workers in the American creative community who continue to face an uncertain path back to work due to the pandemic. This legislation’s extension of CARES Act and Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation benefits into early September, as well as critical tax forgiveness for the first $10,200 of unemployment insurance claimed in 2020, will provide much-needed certainty for creative community workers and their families. We are also grateful for the inclusion of additional funds for shuttered venue operators and live entertainment businesses, and continued support for the Paycheck Protection Program. Businesses are in desperate need of these funds. 

“We are hopeful that enactment of the American Rescue Plan is one more step toward a future where music and entertainment are again at the center of our lives and communities, and where creative community workers can put the hardship of the pandemic behind them. Until then, we will continue to work as one community to advocate for greater, enhanced relief and ensure policymakers at all levels understand American creators’ outsized contribution to our economy and our culture.” 

Actors’ Equity Association
American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) 
American Photographic Artists 
Artist Rights Alliance 
Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston 
ASCAP
The Authors Guild
BMI
CERF+ the Artists Safety Net
Copyright Alliance 
CreativeFuture
Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO
Digital Media Association (DiMA)  
ExtendPUA.org
Freelancers Union
Future of Music Coalition
The Graphic Artists Guild 
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)
Lawyers for the Creative Arts (Chicago) 
Maryland Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Music Artists Coalition (MAC)
Music Managers Forum - US (MMF-US) 
Music Workers Alliance (MWA)
Musicians for Musicians 
National Independent Talent Organization (NITO)
National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA)
National Songwriters Association International (NSAI) 
National Writers Union (NWU)
Recording Academy
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
SAG-AFTRA
SESAC
Songwriters Guild of America
Songwriters of North America (SONA)
SoundExchange 
Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts (VLAA)
Volunteer Lawyers for The Arts
Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA)

About SAG-AFTRA

SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. A proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA has national offices in Los Angeles and New York and local offices nationwide representing members working together to secure the strongest protections for entertainment and media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.