Federal government now promoting music tourism as economic development strategy
S. 195 — American Music Tourism Act of 2025 · Filed by Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 22, 2025 · Signed
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What it does
This bill amends the Visit America Act to add music tourism to the federal government's domestic and international travel promotion mission. It directs the Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism to identify music-related attractions and events (museums, studios, venues, festivals, concerts) and promote travel to them, both domestically and internationally. The bill requires a biennial report to Congress on progress toward these goals.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a directive to a federal agency (the Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism) to identify and promote music-related travel destinations and events. It is a straightforward expansion of an existing agency's mandate, not a tax provision, subsidy, or regulatory carve-out.
What the text implies
- The bill's definition of 'music tourism' is broad enough to encompass venues of all sizes, potentially directing federal promotion resources toward private concert venues, bars, and entertainment establishments that may not have been previously eligible for government marketing support.
- By emphasizing 'rural and other destinations rich in cultural heritage,' the bill may concentrate promotional resources on specific geographic regions, potentially creating winners and losers among competing tourism destinations.
- The biennial reporting requirement creates an ongoing federal data-collection and monitoring function around music tourism, which could inform future targeted subsidies or tax incentives for the music and hospitality sectors.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill expands federal support for a specific tourism sector without restricting citizen rights or imposing costs. It directs government resources toward promoting travel to music venues and events, which may increase economic activity in music-dependent communities and rural areas. No new restrictions, fees, or liabilities are imposed on citizens.
Who stands to gain
- hospitality and hotel operators
- concert venues and live music establishments
- tourism boards and destination marketing organizations
- rural tourism operators
- music festivals and event promoters
Named in the bill
Assistant Secretary for Travel and Tourism, Department of Commerce, Visit America Act, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023
Where it stands
5 cosponsors: 3 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
- Jan 22, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jan 22, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
- Feb 5, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably”
- May 14, 2025 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S2933; text: CR S2933)”
- Sep 15, 2026 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote”
- Sep 15, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Guthrie moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
- Sep 29, 2026 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
- Oct 9, 2026 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-121”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
5 lobbying clients named this bill on 6 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $1,000,778 in lobbying spend. A filing names 12 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 78% of bills with at least one filing.
Marsha Blackburn, the sponsor, reported $133,620 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- U.S. Travel Association — $800,000 on 1 filing
- Recording Academy — $120,778 on 1 filing
- National Independent Venue Association — $60,000 on 2 filings
- American Symphony Orchestra League - Dba League of American Orchestras — $10,000 on 1 filing
- Opera America — $10,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,949 characters) on Jul 25, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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