SONA Foundation to Offer Relief Funds for Songwriters Impacted By L.A. Fires

The Songwriters of North America (SONA) Foundation has relaunched its Songwriter Fund to provide emergency relief for songwriters and composers impacted by the wildfires in Los Angeles.

To qualify, songwriters should visit the organization’s website and provide a few examples that demonstrate professional-level work as a musician, prove they were based in and around the area of the fires and three recent songwriter and/or composer credits. Qualifying writers and composers will then receive payment via direct deposit, check or digital wallet.

The SONA Foundation’s Songwriter Fund first launched in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to assist songwriters who were out of work or dealing with health concerns. During the course of its first fund, SONA distributed more than $400,000 directly into the pockets of songwriters and composers.

Now, the organization has relaunched the fund to respond to the L.A. wildfires which have destroyed or damaged a number of musicians’ homes and studios over the last week.

“SONA is by songwriters, for songwriters,” says SONA / The SONA Foundation CEO Michelle

Lewis. “We created The Songwriter Fund in April 2020 as a way of getting immediate and

targeted financial relief to members of the songwriter and composer community when they

needed it during the Covid pandemic. After last week’s wildfires raged through our home city of

Los Angeles, we are in need once again.”

Lewis added, “We are still in an active situation, and the loss of homes, studios, and businesses

and the uncertainty around what’s coming next have put so many livelihoods at risk. That is why

we are announcing that the SONA Foundation will be restarting The Songwriter Fund

emergency grant program, effective immediately.”

If you’re a musician or music industry worker impacted by the fires, please visit Billboard’s list of entertainment non-profits offering financial and other assistance for more information.