Fort Collins Music Nonprofit SpokesBUZZ Will End Operations This September

The wheels will stop turning for Fort Collins-based music nonprofit SpokesBUZZ. Since 2010, the organization has championed local artists and sought to foster a thriving music community in the region. Its board of directors announced today that it would cease operations on September 1, 2016. 

“We simply don’t have the financial support required to sustain the organization into the future,” SpokesBUZZ executive director and founder Dani Grant said in a press release. 

SpokesBUZZ has led dynamic music-centric initiatives in Fort Collins and Denver, including the BandSwap program, which arranged for local bands to travel to and perform in affiliate cities such as Nashville, Tennessee, or Asheville, North Carolina, that might otherwise be very difficult to reach.

The organization works closely on development with local bands and finding opportunities for growth. Eleven bands, including Altas, Chemistry Club, Grim & Darling, One Flew West and others, are currently in SpokesBUZZ's "incubator" program, which provides "ongoing education" for bands and the chance to "learn from music-industry leaders." The organization says that its support of these bands will continue as the nonprofit ties up lose ends before closing.

SpokesBUZZ also has a few more events scheduled for the summer, which include a day party at the 2016 Underground Music Showcase. A fundraiser scheduled for August 31 has been canceled. 

Why not continue with fundraising efforts like live events and grant applications? According to the press release, Grant said that "while commitment from Colorado State University, the City of Fort Collins and the state of Colorado had been instrumental in moving the organization forward, the sustainable funding needed to carry out the long-term strategy for the nonprofit was significant, and not immediately forthcoming."