Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, South Arts is a nonprofit regional arts organization empowering artists, organizations, and communities, and increasing access to arts and culture. In partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the State Arts Agencies of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee — with additional funding from other public and private donors such as the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation — South Arts supports artists and organizations through a rich and responsive portfolio of grants, fellowships, and programs.

Southern Arts has two active grant programs that New Orleans musicians may apply for:

​1. Tradtional Arts Touring Grants, which support projects engaging a traditional artist/ensemble for multi-day residencies in Southern communities. For more info on these grants visit the information page. The submission deadline is Feb. 23. 2023
​2. Express Grants, open to organizations in rural communities of 50,000 people or less,  offer expedited awards of up to $2,000 supporting the presentation of touring artists. The info page for this program, which runs until June 30, 2023, is at Express Grants | South Arts.

Harmony Street Society Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit foundation that provides tax compliance and many other services to musicians in New Orleans, is presenting a series of financial management workshops. On December 16, they presented a workshop on Year End Tax Tips, in which they covered:
* Get prepared to file your 2022 return.
* Important documents to look for and keep.
* Preparing a list of your expenses and other deductions.
* Setting up your accounts with IRS, Louisiana Department of Revenue,
and the Social Security Administration.
You can find a video of the presentation their Facebook Page.

On January 18, 2023 they will present a workshop on "How to Prepare Your 2022 Tax Return".
In person attendance is free. Please register to participate by sending an email to: hello@harmonystreetsociety.org
If you are unable to attend in person, you can also watch here on Facebook Live.

These Fresh Start Series workshops are funded in part by N.O. Tourism And Cultural Fund, and are presented ​for New Orleans area musicians in partnership with The Ella Project & New Orleans Jazz Museum.

Musicians Council on Fair Wages was well represented at the MaCCNO event on November 22, 2022, celebrating a decade of supporting policy initiatives that impact the livelihoods and cultural practices of members of New Orleans' cultural communities. Here are MCFW Chairperson Roderick Paulin's remarks at the event:

"For the City of New Orleans's government officials who's here today, they need to see and they need to hear exactly where the money needs to go, it needs to go to the musicians, because at the end of the day, whether it's artistic, whether it's musical, the artists need to be paid, and on the behalf of MaccNo and the musicians council, we just like to say, give yourself a round applause coming out, so put your hands together.

Thanks everybody for coming out. We appreciate all of the support. We appreciate all of the love, all of the congratulatory remarks. But the object of MaccNo and the musicians council is to educate inspire and encourage the musicians, be more aware in terms of what they do,and  how they do. And it's not only part of the musicians, it's also part of the community that we're actually having here today, and That's why you're here, and we're so glad to be able to be a part Of the solution.

We already know what the problem is. We need  make sure we more about the solution and to give more to the artist, educate them, encourage them so they can continue to do what they do. Most people understand that the stage is only a small, small portion of what happens behind the scenes, there's so many agents, booking agents, and everybody that actively is involved in the entertainment process to make what happens on the stage, to make it memorable to make them dance, to make you laugh and everything, and but the most important thing to make sure that the artists themselves get paid. So again, of behalf of the Musicians council on Fair Wages and MaccNo, we’d like to thank everybody for coming out. You all do your thing, we’re going to do our thing.  we'll continue to do the work that we do. And everything is gonna be everything. Thank y'all very much."

On Sunday, November 20, 2022, we will be at Zony Mash Beer Project to help our friends at the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans (MaCCNO) celebrate a decade of centering the needs and desires of New Orleans’ cultural community members into policy initiatives that positively impact their livelihoods and cultural practices.
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Featuring live performances from the Water Seed, The Original Pinettes Brass Band, Da Lovebirds (Robin Barnes & Pat Casey), Flagboy Giz and Mikey Offline, this fundraiser will also feature a silent auction and raffle prizes from several local businesses.

This event is being Co-sponsored by the Musicians' Council on Fair Wages, Inc., with financial support from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation.

​Paypal and Venmo recently announced a change in procedure that affects people or companies that receive payments through Paypal or Venmo. Due to a change in tax law that became effective on January 1, 2022, Paypal and Venmo will send out 1099-Ks to any person or organization that receives $600 or more in a tax year through those platforms. (The prior threshold was $20,000.)
Who. The change will affect people or businesses that receive payment for goods or services through Paypal or Venmo.

What. Paypal and Venmo will send out 1099-Ks to people and businesses that received more than $600 in a tax year (for most people, that is a calendar year, ending on December 31st).
When. This change in the law is effective for tax years starting on or after January 1, 2022. That means you will not receive a 1099-K under this new procedure until 2023, for the 2022 tax year.

How will this change affect you?
This change does not affect how much taxable income you have. What it will do is provide the IRS with more information than they currently have about your taxable income.
If you are an artist or performer who accepts cash, checks, Paypal or Venmo payments or other forms of payment, all of those payments are part of your taxable income. In the past, there was no way for the IRS to automatically know about the amounts you received through the types of payments noted above. Now (starting for the 2022 tax year) the IRS will have the information sent to them by Paypal, Venmo, and other third-party payors that will be linked to your Social Security number or FEIN. This will make it harder for you to NOT report these payments. More people may have to file tax returns or face the possibility of having taxes assessed based on the 1099-K amounts, along with non-filing and other potential penalties.

Will you have to pay more tax?
That depends. If you have been tracking and reporting cash and Paypal/Venmo payments in the past, the new 1099 requirement will not increase your tax liability.

 Even if you have not always reported all of that income, your tax liability may not increase. Other recent changes in the tax law have greatly expanded the amount you need to make before you have to file a tax return. The “standard deduction” for 2022 is $12,950 for an individual, and $25,900 for a married couple. This means that a single person can make up to $12,950 in 2022 and not owe any tax.

The 1099 reporting will show the IRS what you received. It will not show what you had to spend to make that money. For a musician, you may have received $500 for a gig, but then paid out $400 of that to the other musicians in your band. That $400 is a deductible expense for you, but you will need to file a tax return to claim the deduction.

An additional note.
The IRS will be looking to enforce the 1099 requirements starting with the 2022 tax year. While the rule has been on the books a long time, the change in the law tells me that the IRS is going to get serious about enforcing it. This means that if you are a band leader and pay your musicians in cash, by Venmo or some other way, you will be responsible for preparing 1099s for everyone that you pay $600 or more during the year.
These additional requirements will mean that you need to find a way to keep track of how much money you receive, and who you pay.

Prepared by
Jon Olson, Executive Director Musicians’ Council on Fair Wages, Inc

NEW ORLEANS, LA, April 25, 2022 — Musicians’ Council on Fair Wages, Inc. (MCFW) today has announced that they will be participating in GiveNOLA Day presented by the Greater New Orleans Foundation on May 3rd 2022. GiveNOLA Day is a 24-hour fundraising event that raises money for non-profit organizations in the greater New Orleans area. MCFW was founded with the mission of bridging the economic gap for New Orleans musicians.
Participating in GiveNOLA Day will help the MCFW launch their upcoming seminar series on the benefits of treating your music career as a business.

“We want to make our information available to our musicians on their schedule, and in a format that is convenient for them. Musicians can't take an hour out of their performance to attend a seminar!" says Jonathan Olson, Executive Director of MCFW.

​New Orleans is a wonderful city that is known for being the birthplace of jazz, a hub for live music, and the home to many musicians’. Musicians’ Council will help artists be properly compensated by providing education and information on how to maximize and enhance the value of their music, and other revenue streams that are available by helping other musicians in the creative process.
 
Earlier this year MCFW was the recipient of the Community Partnership Grant by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation. This grant will be used to sponsor a concert or half-day festival highlighting local performers and all of the work and talent that goes into producing and supporting music events. Musicians’ Council on Fair Wages is devoted to empowering New Orleans musicians with mentorship programs and equipping them with the business knowledge to succeed. 

We learned on January 13 that New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation has awarded the Musicians Council on Fair Wages (MCFW) a $2,500 Community Partnership Grant. MCFW will use the grant funds to support production of a one day festival that will present local music and education around the business of music in New Orleans.
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Upon receiving notification of the grant award, Executive Director Jonathan Olson said that “we’re thrilled to be considered a partner by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation and happy that their Community Partnership Committee has agreed to continue supporting our programs. We will produce the festival to give our local musicians opportunities to perform for fair wages and to expand entertainment opportunities for audiences in a safe environment. We know that the COVID-19 pandemic, and the necessary responses, have significantly disrupted the local cultural economy, and forced musicians and culture bearers to find new ways to make a living. We are planning to expand our programs this year to create a better understanding of the how our music and culture economy works and how we can improve outcomes for all participants in that economy”.

Check back for ongoing developments on the planning of this event. 

First post of 2020.

Stay safe out there, y'all!