A six-month program has succeeded in its aim to boost the city’s creative economy through extended outdoor music curfews, according to the city of Austin. City Council recently decided that for at least six more months the extended curfews will remain in place for the five outdoor music venues within the Red River Cultural District—The Mohawk, Cheer Up Charlie’s, The Sidewinder, Stubb’s BBQ, and Empire Control Room and Garage. The Red River Cultural District Extended Hours Pilot Program kicked off in May and attempts to keep at bay the effect of the city’s affordability crisis on Austin’s creative ecosystem.  As continued growth has inflated property values and taxes, Austin’s creative venues told city leaders they have had difficulty keeping up. Under the program, the city extended the outdoor live music curfew one hour between Thursday and Saturday. The curfew was extended to midnight on Thursdays and 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Venue owners claimed the extended curfew would increase alcohol sales. The boosted revenue would, in turn, trickle down to more bookings of local acts and higher compensation for venue staff and local artists. According to data compiled during its first five months, the pilot program has produced positive results. The most telling statistic, according to the city Music and Entertainment Division’s Brian Block, is the 22 percent increase in the amount paid to local musicians. For a city that boasts its creative community as its backbone, Block said ensuring local artists are getting paid is paramount. “It’s important to our local economy, and it’s important to our culture, which has live music in its core,” Block said.