Memphis Music Venue & Nightlife Bar Newby’s Forced To Shut Down

Memphis bar Newby’s has been forced to close its doors after a failed attempt to raise money with a crowdfunding project.

The owner of Newby’s, Todd Adams, turned to crowdfunding to try and save the popular and highly rated bar and music venue which is set on the strip of Highland Ave near the University of Memphis.

Newby’s had long been known to be a popular venue for independent and upcoming artists as well as national acts to perform inside the music venue.

Owning the venue since 1997, Adams set out to raise $25,000 over the crowdfunding site GoFundMe but failed to reach his goal.

Part of Adams financial problems were due to a copyright infringement lawsuit the club faced after licensing giant Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) built up a case against the venue for not licensing music with BMI.

There was also songs reportedly performed (covered) by music acts which the club didn’t have a license for performance rights. This all was reportedly secretly recorded by BMI researchers who were hanging out at the now defunct bar.

Of the $25,000 goal, Newby’s was able to reach $16,355.