Look, let’s be real. This year has been a total write-off for heaps of people, including those who make a living from creating and performing music to sweaty rooms full of people. A lot of musos have made quick work of playing live stream sets and more intimate virtual hangouts with their fans, but for the most part that doesn’t cover our mates who might have been right on the edge of something good, have now lost a huge chunk of their regular income, but are still keeping the boog dream alive in lockdowns. That’s where Nominate A Mate steps in.
It’s all a part of the American Express Music Backers Fund, which is delivering a whopping $1 million to Aussie music businesses, artists, and fans to make sure the music plays on through this tough year. Nominate A Mate is an opportunity for you to dob in a musically-inclined pal for their chance to cop a $1500 boost of coin.
It’s all to help them keep their creative juices flowing amid this total nothing of a year, ‘cos God knows we’re gonna need something new to boog to when we’re all out the other side of this.
The way it works is that each nominated artist, band, producer, roadie, tech, sound engineer, crew, or any musically-adjacent type will be judged and then selected by a panel of industry leaders. The judging panel then picks out 100 legends to receive the $1500 cash tip, helping them keep things going while live concerts and other parts of the industry are put on hold for a bit.
And some absolute champions have already been named as recipients of the Nominate A Mate initiative. Cody Munro Moore and Jordanne Chant, who are the brains and brilliance behind Sydney’s Dinosaur City Records, have been awarded the cash boost for their huge efforts in wrangling a bunch of indie labels into creating the Stay Inside compilation.
Nominate A Mate is also happening in partnership with Support Act, who has been doing an incredible job with making sure Aussie musos, crew, and music are doing okay during the pandemic shutdowns, and are the only Aussie charity delivering crisis relief services to our important industry.
So if there’s someone out there who has inspired the heck out of you this year as a musician, or music-adjacent legend, when you can chuck their hat in the ring for them over at the American Express website before midnight on September 13, 2020 (T&Cs apply and all that jazz) and cross your fingers they get the call-up. Oh and you go in a draw to win one of 20 Ticketmaster vouchers worth $250. Not bad at all.
PEDESTRIAN.TV has partnered with American Express to launch the $1 Million American Express Music Backers Fund. Applications are now open. Find out more here.
