New York State Rule Bans Ticketed Music Events At Bars

Cancellation announcements are no longer a new thing but I imagine that they will be slowing down as we are getting to the point of nothing being able to be announced as happening for the year. Yesterday some news was making the rounds based on an article on a Syracuse website. It referred to official updates on the State Liquor Authority section of the New York State website insofar as live music entertainment. While the full list of restrictions can be found HERE, I’ve copied one of the most important areas for our readerships interest. Take a look.

new york state

Q: Can I have live entertainment or a DJ in my indoor or outdoor dining area?

A: Restaurants and other on premises food and beverage establishments that have a license through the SLA are only allowed to offer on-premise music if their license certificate specifically allows for such activity (i.e., live music, DJ, recorded, etc.). A manufacturer that has an on premises license also must assure that its on premises license certificate specifically allows for the type of music it is offering. A manufacturer without a separate on premises license may offer music unless its license certificate specifically prohibits such music.

If offering music, indoors or out, all relevant aspects of the respective Department of Health guidance dining must be followed, e.g., patrons should not be standing except for necessary reasons (e.g., restroom, entering/exiting), standing patrons should wear face coverings, etc. Performers should be at least 12 feet from patrons.

All other forms of live entertainment, such as exotic dancing, comedy shows, karaoke etc., are not permissible currently regardless of phase. Additionally, please note that only incidental music is permissible at this time. This means that advertised and/or ticketed shows are not permissible. Music should be incidental to the dining experience and not the draw itself.

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PiercingMetal Thoughts: This is a tough one for sure and the words that “advertised and/or ticketed shows are not permissible” will have a long-standing impact on many of the places where my friends, colleagues and independent musicians convene. As we are quoting the exact SLA source material this isn’t a case of Chicken Little screaming that “the sky is falling, the sky is falling” because its right there in black and white ink. Well, ink in the terms of web-based text of course. Speaking frankly, I am not too confident that the early portion of 2021 will be any different because a number of events that I cover for “The Chronicles” have already been cancelled and said “see you in 2022”. My hope is that all of my friends in the pub and venue business are able to ride this out because the storm is still here and so many of us are afraid to be in large groups. I don’t know about you but I cannot see myself going into a massively crowded event space until more solutions are put in front of us as a society. Only time will tell and as I close this I again remind you to be safe out there and wear your mask if your jurisdiction advises you to. Maintain that distance and limit your activity if at all possible. See you next time and good luck.

Official Website: https://sla.ny.gov/

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