Sofar Sounds to pay $460,000 to unpaid workers
A settlement with New York's Department of Labor sees 'secret gig' platform Sofar compensate 654 'ambassadors' who weren't remunerated for working its shows
News By | 8 January 2020
Sofar Sounds will distribute more than US$460,000 among people who worked its concerts for free between 2016 and 2019, after agreeing a settlement with New York state’s Department of Labor.
The department opened an investigation into Sofar – which promotes ‘secret gigs’ in living rooms and other intimate, non-traditional concert venues – last September, amid concerns it violated local laws by using volunteers to staff its events.
New York labour standards dictate that a person may generally only do unpaid work only for non-profit organisations, with exemptions for certain “short-term recreational or amusement event[s]”. Virgin-backed Sofar is a for-profit company, and raised a further $25 million last May.
https://www.iqmagazine.com/2019/05/sofar-sounds-raises-25m-artists-shortchanged/#.XhXAWxf7Qwe
A Department of Labor spokesperson tells Variety that Sofar now uses only…
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