Petition to Support GTA Live Music Venues

Our goal is to get 2500 to 5000 signatures

It is a well-known fact Toronto Live Music Venues are and have been, struggling. The city has lost many venerable clubs and lounges over the past few years. Now the COVID-19/Corona Virus is putting additional pressure on the club owners. This could be the “final nail in the coffin” for many.

The Honorable John Tory, Mayor of Toronto declared Toronto Music City a few years ago. We at Canada Rocks Media are now calling upon the Mayor and Toronto City Council to help Music City in its desperate time of need. There are approximately 80 live music venues in the Greater Toronto Area. Many are paying extraordinarily high rents in addition to huge overhead costs. They do it for the music and their passion for the music scene. However, they live on the edge, covering rent and expenses on a month-to-month basis. Then there are staff wages, cleaners, and any company that supplies the clubs, bars, and lounges with beverages including liquor, beer, and pop. Losing even a single weekend of revenue could spell the end for any one of these clubs, particularly coming out of the slowest months of the year…..January, February, and March. The trickle-down effect is endless.

We at Canada Rocks Media are petitioning the City of Toronto to come up with a financial support plan for Toronto Live Music Venues. These venues gamble their financial well-being every single day to bring us amazing, live music at the unique, out-of-the-ordinary places that only Toronto can offer. Maybe this time we need to step up our game to ensure these remarkable venues don’t disappear along with all the amazing live talent they offer.

I would also ask the Unison Benevolent Fund and the Canadian Live Music Association to get involved to help support our effort to raise money to ensure the doors of Toronto’s live music venues remain open, thereby supporting the artists who play them.

Edited by Pat Blythe