City Tries To Legislate Promoters, But Without Their Input

By Marcus Gilmer in Arts & Entertainment on May 7, 2008 8:40PM

Chicago's City Council Committee on License and Consumer Protection is gearing up to make another attempt at passing a new "promoters' ordinance" that aims to create more restrictions on promoters and their abilities to put on shows at Chicago's music and dance venues. Problem is, while it would weed out the nefarious promoters it looks to curtail, it would seriously hamper the efforts of good, honest promoters who work hard to put on great local events. We'll admit that some of the legal talk is a bit above our heads, but DeRo has a nice breakdown on his blog.

What all this means is that if, say, a local fanzine wanted to promote a monthly concert featuring the bands in its new issue at a well-established local club of 200 capacity, the editors would have to apply for a promoters' license and meet all of the requirements and expenses, even if the club already has a license and can boast of a clean record of trouble-free events. The same would hold true of many regular benefit gigs.

Right, because more government red tape and fees are exactly what these hard-working people need to deal with while setting up the legions of great local rock shows and events that make our city so much fun. k thnx.