WHAT WE DO
Music Venue Alliance Austin seeks to protect Austin's live music network by securing the long-term future of iconic music venues. These venues have played a crucial role in the incubation of Texas music by nurturing local talent. Venues provide a platform for artists to build their careers, while developing music and performance skills.
We work to gain recognition of the essential role these venues fill for artist development, cultural and music industries, the economy, and local community. We aim to preserve venues, making them more efficient with an improved experience for performers and audiences. Our main goals are to serve as an organizing tool for our members, alert the community to upcoming initiatives that need support, and to link our organization to our parent org in the UK, as well as sister orgs as they develop around the world.
Music venues are often a labor of love. They benefit from a strength in numbers approach when lobbying city and state government for policy initiatives needed to stabilize in a rapidly shifting economy. By bringing owners and operators together, in a highly competitive market, we create the opportunity to identify shared concerns and consensus on how to address them. Membership is by meeting the definition of "music venue" found on our Resources page; there is no fee.
Organize
MVAA keeps a contact database for member venues. All members are invited to quarterly meetings and regularly provided relevant information on movement around venue issues, with requests for input and feedback. When it comes time for the venue community to speak up, MVAA will facilitate letter-writing campaigns to the appropriate audiences.
Advocate
In response to venue feedback, MVAA will draft policy proposals and navigate their passage through contact with government agencies and officials, as well as testimony at public hearings. We will collaborate with other community organizations and lobbying groups to achieve our goals.