Jay-Z Made in America Music Festival News: Live Nation Agrees to Pay Los Angeles $850,000 to Host Event
For the first time in its three-year run, Jay Z's Made in America music festival will be held outside of Philadelphia and come to Los Angeles where it will be simultaneously held in both cities on Labor Day weekend, Aug. 30-31.
Each city will feature its own artists ranging from hip-hop, alternative and dance acts, such as Kanye West Pharrell Williams and Kings of Leon headlining the Philly side, while Imagine Dragons, John Mayer and Kendrick Lamar rank among the top-billed sets for the L.A. fest.
The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday that Live Nation, the producer of the two-day festival, announced it would pay $850,000 to cover the city of LA and Los Angeles County's costs related to the event.
The L.A. City Council is considering a proposal to bill Live Nation a flat $500,000 for "services," as part of a 2009 law that allows the city to recover all of its costs related to special events.
Separately, the production company would pay an additional $350,000 to the county for services of the Grand Park, which the city and county both jointly operate. Programming, security and upkeep are handled by the Music Center, according to The Times.
Such service costs include police and fire protection as well as paying public works and other city workers for working the event. The county's service cost would cover the assignment of sheriff's deputies to the event, said Jeff Millman, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's spokesman.
Millman said Live Nation also agreed to pay for any damage to Grand Park's landscaping and added that Mayor Garcetti has urged the council to approve the flat rate because the promoter agreed to the provision.
"We're very confident that the resources allocated will be plenty to provide a good experience for all concerned," Millman said.
Despite the Made in America festival generating at least $10 million for the city of Philadelphia's economy and covering the $505,000 in municipal costs, some downtown LA residents and business have voiced their concerns regarding traffic and the city's ability to manage a crowd of at least 50,000, The Times reported.
However, Jay Z and Mayor Garcetti made a joint appearance to quell the concerns by stating that the city would be able to deal with everything also boasting the potential economic boon the downtown area would experience Labor Day weekend.
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