Los Angeles Music Scene: Save Our Stages has Glitches

Save Our Stages application process were supposed to start on April 8th, but is there anything better than a system glitch? Deadline (Apr 8) reports that the Small Business Administration wasn't able to get the site up and running even though it had gone through quality control. When it eventually gets up and running, it appears that there is a strong possibility that fraud will siphon off some of the money meant to support music venues (as well as other eligible entities).

Meanwhile, on the eve of the opening date of the applications, the SBA’s Inspector General issued a report raising “serious concerns” with controls put in place to “address potential misuse of federal funds,” including the lack of sufficient staff for oversight. It also raised concerns about the lack of staffing for the office.

It also appears that it could take awhile for money to start flowing once the website gets up and running.

“Currently, the program office has one designated official and its staff are on temporary detail,” the inspector general, Hannibal “Mike” Ware, wrote in the report. “At this time, SBA has not formalized a plan for staffing this office relative to the volume of applications expected. The agency has also not defined the organizational structure for administering the program.”

Potential correct from my past assumptions about how Save Our Stages works. Those first allowed to apply for these grants are those that lost 90% of their revenue. I thought that this was based on all of 2020 revenue -- that is they lost 90% of their January thru December 2020 revenue as compared to 2019. I came across an article (that I can't locate now) that indicated that the 90% was really March thru December 2020 and I'll assume compared to March thru December 2019. 

I don't think my initial assumption was totally off base as I was reading articles such as this EDM (Dec 22) article that had this: The money is earmarked for payroll, rent and other essential expenses, with funding prioritized for venues who have lost more than 90% of their revenue this year. This had me thinking it was a full year of revenue. It is highly possible that the Save Our Stages language is a bit difficult to interpret. 

For those interested, here's a checklist of documents that are required for the application process.