CHICAGO (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The City of Chicago has released a revised version of a controversial ordinance that would require independant promoters to be licensed.
The ordinance would require that independant promoters pay fees ranging between $500 and $2,000 to the city, even if working with an established venue. The ordinance would also require that the promoter obtain obtain $300,000 in liability insurance.
The insurance proved to be a particularly contentious point in previous versions of the ordinance and the city has attempted to allay concerns by the inclusion of provisions for promoters to acquire multi-event policies as a cost-saving measure. Unfortunately, the city reports that "this new form of insurance is only being offered by one broker and has yet to be adopted by others."
The final draft has yet to be published and city officials told the Chicago Tribune that the ordinance was still being "tweaked" and that it would not be voted on by the Committee on License and Consumer Protection next week.
The ordinance first came to the fore in 2003 after 21 people were killed in a stampede at a south-side night club, E2. The ordinance was introduced in 2007 but has since languished in committee after meeting stiff resistance from the Chicago music community.
http://www.chicago-music.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/january-2009-version-of-promoter-ordinance.pdf target=new>The full text of the proposed ordinance. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
