City defends Promoter Ordinance as ensuring responsible entertainment
By William S. Bike
The West Town Chamber of Commerce (WTCC) is among groups and individuals opposed to the proposed Promoter Ordinance, currently being crafted under the leadership of the City’s Department of Business Affairs and Licensing to regulate live music events and concerts.
The ordinance would require event promoters to obtain a promoter’s license and liability insurance for events, submit to background checks, and maintain records on all events.
Efrat Stein, spokesperson for the Department of Business Affairs and Licensing, offered the City’s rebuttal to West Town Chamber of Commerce views on the ordinance expressed in the August 1 issue of the Gazette, and provided the City’s rationale for creating the ordinance.
The WTCC’s objected that the ordinance could restrict promoters’ and organizations’ ability to run charitable and political benefit concerts, but Stein disagreed, noting the City has taken such events into account.
“One of the exemptions in the ordinance is that not-for-profit organizations [that] promote their own events are exempt from the ordinance,” she said. “It would not apply to them, and it would not impact their ability to do charitable and political benefit concerts.”
WTCC also raised concern over how the ordinance defines “music promoter.” In a letter distributed to City aldermen, the group said the ordinance would force independent musicians who promote themselves with flyers to get costly licenses.
Stein disagreed. “The ordinance exempts performers, or agents of performers, from the license,” she said. “So if you’re performing in a band and you want to promote the band, you’re exempt from obtaining the promoter’s license. And if you are an agent of the performer, you are exempt from the license as well.”
The WTCC also said its own events such as West Fest and the Do Division Street festival would be adversely affected, but Stein said that would not be the case because “not for profit organizations promoting their own events are exempt from the license, as are events that are promoted in which proceeds are going for a charitable reason.
“Say an organization is having an event to raise money to help someone who is ill with his or her medical bills. In that type of event, whoever is promoting it would be exempt, even if it is not a not-for-profit organization,” Stein continued. “So events to raise money for charitable events are not considered events that require an event promoter license.”
Music professionals have helped her department craft a fair and responsible ordinance, Stein noted.
“The City has been working with a group made up of promoters and establishments that host these events, such as theaters and nightclubs that have events regularly,” Stein explained. “There have been about 25 meetings with this group since 2005, since this ordinance was in its beginning stages, and we have made several changes to this ordinance based on the recommendations of the promoters and the venue owners.
“This group is essential at creating this ordinance, making improvements in it, and tweaking it in all sorts of ways, and there are lots of changes that have been made to this ordinance through these meetings,” she noted. “The input of the promoters and the venue owners is really being taken into consideration when crafting this ordinance.”
The City, Stein said, feels “This ordinance is important to insure that there is responsible, vibrant, and safe entertainment in Chicago.” The event promoter’s license proposed by the ordinance “requires paid event promoters to take common sense steps to ensure the safety of patrons and the peace and good of the community. With both the venue owners and the promoters taking the responsibility, the probability that an event will be safe increases.”
Stein said the City understands the importance of Chicago’s music scene to the city’s vibrancy and business climate.
“Many businesses rely on event promoters to bring musical acts, along with their fans, to these establishments in order to maintain a profitable business,” she said. “So event promoters are very important to Chicago’s music industry and entertainment industry.”
That, however, does not mean event promoters should be exempt from requirements that other businesses operate under, Stein said.
“Just like with any other business, a business license is required to do business in Chicago,” she explained. “So this license creates very basic guidelines in which the business owner—the event promoter in this case—needs to operate from. What we’re seeing from all of our research and all of our meetings with the industry is that many of the venue owners are already requiring event promoters to obtain an insurance policy so they are covered in the event that something would happen at the event.”
The Department of Business Affairs and Licensing still is crafting the ordinance, which it eventually will introduce into the Chicago City Council. “The ordinance is not up for vote yet,” Stein said. “It’s still being developed; things still are being looked at.”
For more information, contact the Department of Business Affairs and Licensing at (312) 747-4747.
