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ACME reports near-complete Live Music Fund closeouts; department outlines revised grant timeline and application totals
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Summary
At the Jan. 5 Music Commission meeting, ACME staff reported that nearly all 2024 Austin Live Music Fund awards have completed key payment milestones and presented programwide application counts and a revised schedule: panels in February, decisions in March and disbursements by April.
Erica Shimali, music and entertainment division manager at Austin Arts, Culture, Music & Entertainment (ACME), told the Music Commission on Jan. 5 that the 2024 Austin Live Music Fund awards have reached closeout milestones: all 136 awardees accepted and signed agreements, 135 first payments paid, 106 second payments paid and 55 final payments completed.
ACME acting division manager Laura Odegard said the department extended the intake/application deadline for applicants who filed intake forms by Dec. 4 to Dec. 19 to provide additional support. That shift pushed panels to February, funding decisions to March and disbursements to April. "Panels will now occur in February, funding decisions will be announced in March, and we're hoping to have funding disbursement shortly thereafter, and latest April for that funding disbursement," Odegard said.
Why it matters: the Live Music Fund and related ACME programs represent the city’s primary grant resources for musicians, venues and cultural projects; timely payments and clear timelines affect when recipients can deliver projects and payroll.
Details and scale
Odegard presented program budgets and award projections: $7,000,000 for the Austin Live Music Fund (about 370 awards); $1,600,000 for Creative Space Assistance (about 25 awards); $13,000,000 for Elevate (about 250 awards); and $3,000,000 for Heritage Preservation (about 25 awards). Across ACME programs, staff recorded 2,085 intake forms (20 Spanish-language); about 1,607 full applications were submitted following eligibility review.
For the Austin Live Music Fund specifically, Odegard said 1,111 English eligibility forms were submitted; 991 of those were deemed eligible and 806 submitted full applications on time. Within that applicant pool, staff identified 46 live-music venue applicants, 49 independent promoters at the $20,000 level and nine promoters at the $5,000 level, plus 541 professional musicians among applicants.
Odegard also summarized ACME’s outreach and assistance: 10 workshops, 14 open office hours, 142 one-on-one appointments, 493 staff hours of assistance and 2,738 people assisted (figures do not include third-party help from the Long Center).
Commissioner response and next steps
Commissioner Cardenas thanked staff for the deadline extension and relayed community gratitude. Commissioners asked how the evaluation and panel processes would be sequenced; Odegard said sequencing was adjusted to let applicants who receive multiple awards decide whether to accept or decline specific grants. Staff will collect feedback this month via surveys and focus groups and return with more detail at next month’s meeting.
The commission did not take formal action on specific grants at the meeting; staff outlined the timeline and promised follow-up reports on panel outcomes and marketing efforts prior to disbursement.
