Live Nation, the multinational entertainment company, has announced a new program titled On The Road Again, aimed at providing travel stipends for touring artists who perform at specific venues. In total, 77 locales have agreed to participate, and not to charge merchandise selling fees to traveling acts. Live Nation intends to provide musicians with $1,500 in gas and travel cash, an initiative that will be implemented in the coming months. The new program pulls its name from Willie Nelson’s 1980 classic. 

On the official website, launched alongside the program, the folks behind On The Road Again explained why the program matters: “Developing artists playing in clubs are the backbone of live music. Almost every artist plays clubs at some point in their career. According to live music charts from Pollstar, there are 4,000 venues in the United States, and small venues host about 70% off all shows each year.”

After identifying the venue space most akin to eligibility, Live Nation got to the core of the issue: “These hardworking artists are impacted the most as tour costs rise and fluctuate. Touring is a crucial part of an artist’s livelihood, and we understand travel costs takes one of the biggest bites out of the artist’s nightly profits. By helping with these core expenses, we aim to make it easier for artists on the road so they can keep performing to their fans in more cities across the country.” 

In support of the mission, the program’s namesake, Nelson, commented, “Touring is important to artists, so whatever we can do to help other artists, I think we should do it. This program will impact thousands of artists a year and help to make touring a little bit easier.” On the website, Live Nation also shared that they intend to roll out the On The Road Again program within the “next few months” and into to “deliver tens of millions of dollars in extra earning to developing artists and their crew.”

Positioned on the program’s homepage is a list of the contributing venues, such as select Blue Note sites, a range of Fillmore theaters, and some House of Blues locations. It also features specific spots like Atlanta’s Tabernacle, New York’s Gramercy Theatre, and others; view here.

Watch Willie Nelson introduce the new One The Road Again program below. 
For more information, visit the official website.