A music industry conference, More Music Biz 2019, powered by the Music Business Association, will land in Nashville May 5-8 to unite leaders who will discuss the future of the music business and build relationships that will steer the industry for years to come. Nashville is known as “Music City USA,” but yet, is not a Smokefree Music City.
Musicians and those in the music community are workers that are often overlooked when it comes to smokefree protections. These talented individuals bring not only joy to audiences, but revenue to music cities from residents and visitors who want to hear their music.
At Smokefree Music Cities we’ve gathered the voices of musicians, spanning a wide spectrum of musical genres to promote efforts to create smokefree musical venues. The initiative aims to improve the health of musicians and other entertainers, venue workers, and audiences.
The best measure for how much we love our music is how we protect those who make it. These workers need protections from exposure to secondhand smoke to protect their health and allow them to give their best performance.
We encourage all music and musician-oriented organizations to adopt our model resolution, and to contact us with their questions or their thoughts on how we can collaborate to protect musicians’ health. Organizations such as MusiCares, the Atlanta Blues Society, and Smokefree Rights for All have adopted resolutions. Individuals are also encouraged to share their stories or testimonials about their support for smokefree environments and/or their experiences working in or visiting smoke-filled bars and other music venues. These personal stories go a long way to communicate the need for healthy, smokefree workplaces and the support for smokefree air with audiences and policy-makers.
Smokefree Music Cities is a project of the ANR Foundation in partnership with other public health and musician-oriented organizations working to improve musicians’ health. Smokefree cities prevent exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke, a significant health hazard, particularly for musicians who spend a great deal of time in smoky venues. While some of Nashville’s establishments have voluntarily adopted a smokefree policy, local and state laws protect everyone equally from exposure to a known carcinogen. Twenty 28 states and over 1,050 cities are smokefree by law, including many major music hubs including but not limited to Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans in LA; Austin and Fort Worth, TX; Ashville, NC; Bowling Green, KY; Branson, MO; Athens, GA; New York City, NY; Chicago, IL; and Los Angeles, CA.
Read artist testimonials and more: SmokefreeMusicCities.org
