SASKMUSIC COVID-19 EMERGENCY FINANCIAL RELIEF FUND GUIDELINES
Submission Deadline: 5pm CST March 30, 2020
Download these guidelines as a PDF
Purpose: SaskMusic stands behind artists, venues, and the music industry at large who have made the difficult decision to, or have been required to, postpone or cancel concerts, events, and provision of music industry services in an effort to slow the spread and reduce the risk of infection of the COVID-19 virus. We also recognize that this decision has the capacity to cause great financial and emotional strain on musicians, technicians, and other industry members. This fund is intended to help offset a small portion of some of the income lost by working music professionals.
This fund is not intended to replace all of an individual’s lost income, nor to replace lost income for an extended period of time; we realize our limitations. We do hope to be able to contribute towards alleviating the financial stress on affected individuals as an emergency response. We recognize that the demand for this fund may well exceed our own resources, and that we may only be able to assist a small percentage of those who are requesting help. (Essentially, if you aren’t in great need of help at this time, please leave the funds for someone who is.)
This fund will not cover any non-music-related losses. ONLY costs incurred or lost income that would have come from your music-related activities should be indicated. Invoices and/or contracts must accompany your submission where applicable.
Please note that individuals to whom the cheque is payable, and who are receiving funds of $500 or more, will receive a T4a statement and will be required to claim this income on their 2020 tax return.
This intake is for lost income estimated for the period March 12-April 30 2020
Individuals should make their own applications but please coordinate if you are in a band so that each band member is requesting (for example) the same amount for each cancelled gig listed on your budget. Where you have incurred non-recoupable business costs for your band/artist activities you can also apply as the band, or as an individual artist for those specific costs. This application should be submitted separately. We realize that there are often unique circumstances that apply, so please contact us if you have questions before you submit.
The person applying for funds must submit their own application. Individuals who may apply include:
- Musicians
- Sound and/or lighting technicians
- Publicists
- Booking agents (specifically for lost commissions)
- Music teachers
This fund is not available to:
- Music schools as a company (where a number of teachers are co-located and on payroll as employees)
- Retail stores
- Music venues
- Concert promotion companies
- Those who are employed by a company/business and therefore would qualify for EI if laid off
Up to 50% of your loss can be applied for, to a total of $1000 per application. Only one application per individual will be accepted for this intake, plus up to one additional application for non-recoupable business expenses (if applicable).
Assistance that can be requested can include, for example:
- Marketing amounts spent on events that are being/have been cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19 such as advertising costs and non-recoupable travel and which is NOT being covered under any grant obtained for these purposes from FACTOR, Creative Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Arts Board, Canada Council or other granting agencies.
- Income lost due to the cancellation or postponement of shows and/or work originally scheduled between March 12-April 30, 2020 for musicians, sound and lighting techs, publicists, managers, etc.
- Income lost by music teachers having to cancel lessons due to self-isolation between March 12-April 30, 2020.
Proof of Saskatchewan Residency will be required if you are approved for funding. Acceptable documents shall be: Valid (current) Saskatchewan Driver’s license; valid Saskatchewan Health card; or a 2020-dated utilities bill listing a Saskatchewan address with applicant’s name. Other verifications may be accepted at the discretion of the review panel.
We recommend applying for only those costs that you know you will be out of pocket for, at this time. If we are able to add funds to this program we will do further intakes.
If you know you will be eligible for standard government support for your lost revenue, via Employment Insurance or similar programs because you have an employer making contributions, please do not apply to this fund. (Note: This line does not refer to any new potential supports for the self-employed referred to by the federal government on March 18/2020, since the parameters of these are unclear at this time.)
A space is provided for applicants to give a personal statement/more information for the review panel’s consideration. The review panel will be instructed to rank all applications to the intake based on the information provided in the application, and they will not necessarily be ranked on dollar-figure losses.
Process:
Staff will review applications and their accompanying documentation for completeness.
Following the closure of the intake, a panel consisting of a minimum of 6 music industry professionals will review all complete applications and collectively rank these applications in order of priority. This list will be forwarded to the SaskMusic board for final approvals with applications then funded in priority order until the funding allocated has been exhausted. Proof of residency will be requested at the discretion of the review panel.
All panel members will be required to sign a Conflict of Interest declaration stating they will not contribute to the discussion on submissions for which there may be real or perceived conflicts of interest or bias. SaskMusic staff, board members, and immediate family are ineligible to apply to this fund.
If approved for funding, individual applicants (or those to whom the cheque is being issued) will be required to provide their social insurance number before the cheque is written, to facilitate SaskMusic issuing 2020 T4as.
By submitting an application to this fund, you recognize that SaskMusic is under no obligation to grant your funding request, and will act on the advice of the review panel and the SaskMusic Board in allocating assistance through this fund.
Your application will be held in confidence. The applicant’s name and details of the request and amount will be disclosed only to the review panel. The name of recommended applicants and amounts will also be shared with the SaskMusic board for final approval but otherwise remain in confidence.
The applicant states that this application is a true and faithful statement of lost income from music sources and non-recoupable music expenditures due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic response and that the losses/lost income being applied for will not be reasonably accessible through any other channels of government funding nor grants.
The applicant further verifies that they are a current resident of the Province of Saskatchewan as of the date of application and will provide verification as indicated above upon request.
For questions on this process, please contact Mike Dawson at SaskMusic, mike@saskmusic.org.
Continue to bottom of page for the application link.
Budget template available here
Please download and use the template. Please note GST is not an eligible expense.
Examples of budget submissions.
For each item you are claiming please upload a copy of the invoice, a confirmation of the show booking, or some other proof of purchase/expense.
In circumstances where it is difficult to prove estimated future lost income (for example, a freelance musician who typically booked themselves with little advance), we will consider an average based on your 2018 or 2019 tax return, using the self-employment line.
(APPLICATIONS FOR THE COVID-19 RELIEF FUND ARE NOW CLOSED)
Go to the EFRF application form
DONATIONS ACCEPTED
We recognize that the demand for this fund may far exceed our own resources, and thus have made the decision to accept private donations. 100% of all funds donated (less any bank/transaction fees) will be distributed to applicants of the program. If you are a music fan or patron of the arts whose upcoming social plans have been impacted by the cancellation of live music events, we encourage you to consider a donation to help support Saskatchewan’s musicians and industry.
To donate via PayPal using your PayPal funds, a credit card, or Visa Debit:
To donate via cheque, you can mail to:
SaskMusic, 1831 College Ave, Regina SK, S4P 4V5; telephone 306-347-0676
We also encourage you to consider purchasing music and merchandise directly from artists or via Bandcamp.com. Here is a helpful link to albums and artists tagged “Saskatchewan” on that site (however, you can also search by name for your favourite artists): https://bandcamp.com/tag/saskatchewan?tab=all_releases
