Remember back in March when we shined a light on a bill going through the Georgia state legislature, House Bill 155, aka the Georgia Music Investment Act? Well guess what? We did it! It is law and presumably it’s all thanks to you.
On Monday, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed the bill into law. It will go into effect starting July 1st.
The Georgia state government hopes that this bill has a similar effect to the music industry as a previous bill had on the film industry. Since passing the film industry law, Georgia has become the third-largest destination for film and television investment by revenue, after California and New York, and the largest per capita.
The Georgia Music Investment Act contains a similar passel of tax breaks and incentives as the film investment act. To recap, it includes:
- A 20 percent tax credit for live tour origination (musical or theatrical tours that would rehearse and/or audition in Georgia). To receive credit, a company must spend at least $300,000 annually in the state, whether through hotel, travel, staffing or restaurants, and originate the tour in Georgia. This would not apply to festivals such as Music Midtown or Shaky Knees, or single performances in the state.
- A 20 percent tax credit for recording music that will be released for public consumption. To receive the credit, a company must have a minimum aggregate expenditure of $70,000 annually; if, for example, the record label for a developing artist doesn’t want to spend $70,000 on one artist, it would still receive the credit if it brought in two projects at $35,000 each.
- A 20 percent tax credit for recording of music that will be synchronized into a film, TV show or video game (projects that already received a tax credit from the film industry would not be eligible). To receive the credit, a company must have a minimum aggregate expenditure of $150,000 annually.
The act sailed through the government (in legislative terms anyways); the bill was only introduced back in February on this year’s Georgia Music Day.
If you’re an artist, or in the music industry in anyway, start booking your tickets to Georgia because the flood is coming.
Go out tonight, and any night. Jukely is a concert subscription that gives members guestlist access to hundreds of music events – for one price. Whenever you want to go out, you’ll always have something to do. Learn more and sign up at jukely.com.
