VNUE (VNUE) 10-K2022 FY Annual report

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

☑ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

or

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission File Number: 000-53462

VNUE, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

833-937-5493

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: Common stock, $.001 par value

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐   No ☑

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐   No ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑   No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☑   No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐   No ☑

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2022, the last business day of the registrant’s last completed second quarter, based upon the closing price of the common stock of $0.0037 on such date is $4,821,038. As of April 14, 2023, there were 1,815,859,522 shares of the issuer’s common stock, par value $0.001, issued and outstanding.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CAUTIONARY NOTE ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some of the statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K of VNUE, Inc. (hereinafter the “Company,” “VNUE” “we,” “us” or “our”) discuss future expectations, contain projections of our plan of operation or financial condition or state other forward-looking information. In this Annual Report, forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words such as “anticipate,” “plan,” “believe,” “expect,” “estimate” and the like. Forward-looking statements involve future risks and uncertainties, there are factors that could cause actual results or plans to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements. The forward-looking information is based on various factors and is derived using numerous assumptions. A reader should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this Annual Report. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ from projections include, for example:

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained herein, which speak only as of the date hereof. We believe the information contained in this Form 10-K to be accurate as of the date hereof. Changes may occur after that date. We will not update that information except as required by law in the normal course of our public disclosure practices. Additionally, the discussion regarding our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and related notes included in this Form 10-K.

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS.

Business Overview

We are a music technology company that utilizes our platforms to record live concerts and commercializes the content by making the content immediately available for purchase through our website and the website at Set.fm, a technology platform that enables musical artists to capture, promote and sell high-fidelity recordings instantly. Our technology provides an income source to artists and record labels from the recorded content. Additionally, we offer high-end collectible products such as CDs, USB drives and laminates, which feature our fully mixed and mastered live concert content, through our exclusive partner DiscLive Network (the dba of RockHouse Live Media Productions, Inc). To date, we have created content from live concerts, including Rob Thomas, Patty Smyth and Scandal, The White Buffalo, King’s X, Paul Rodgers, Scott Stapp (of the band Creed), “The Music of Cream,” and many others.

Our products and services include:

The Company currently only generates revenue from Set.fm and from DiscLive by (a) recording the audio of live concerts and then selling the content “instantly” through its set.fm website, as well as the IOS Set.fm mobile application, and (b) selling content on physical products such as double CD sets, which are burned on-site where customers can purchase them. Our customers are fans of live music and the bands which we record.

Customers want to “take home” their experience of the concerts they attend. Our Company enters into agreements with certain bands and artists and record labels if a particular artist is under contract with the label. Our teams then follow that artist or band while they are on tour and record every show on that tour. Our Company uses its own recording and sound equipment while recording concerts.

As we partner with both artists and labels, we market our services on their websites, social media platforms, and mailing lists, as well as our own websites and social networks. Furthermore, partnerships with companies similar to Ticketmaster allow us to market to customers when they buy tickets to see certain artists in concert.

On January 9, 2020, the Company entered into an artist agreement (the “Artist Agreement”) with recording and performance artist Matchbox Twenty (“MT”) to record its 2020 tour and sell limited edition double CD sets, download cards, and digital downloads. Due to COVID-19, the tour has been twice rescheduled, most recently to May 2023.

Corporate History

On February 13, 2022, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with VNUE Acquisition Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“MergerCo”), Stage It Corp., a Delaware corporation (“Stage It”), and the stockholders’ representative for Stage It, pursuant to which the Company contracted to acquire Stage It for up to $10 million (the “Merger Consideration”), by merging MergerCo with and into Stage It, with Stage It continuing as the surviving entity and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Merger”). At the same time, Stage It and several of the shareholders of Stage It entered into a voting agreement concerning the Merger.

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, at the closing of the Merger (the “Closing”), each of Stage It’s outstanding shares (including common and preferred shares) were converted into the right to receive the applicable portion of the Merger Consideration. $1,085,450 of the Merger Consideration was paid in cash and satisfaction of certain outstanding debt obligations of Stage It, as outlined in a Closing Payment Certificate of the Merger Agreement, and the other portion was paid in shares of the Company’s common stock or preferred stock, with the actual number of such shares to be issued reduced by the cash component outlaid in the transaction. A portion of the Merger Consideration, $1 million, was held back for the purposes of satisfying certain contingent obligations of Stage It.

The Merger Agreement provides for the issuance of earn out shares provided that certain EBIDTA requirements are met until two years from the date of acquisition. The Company has determined, as of December 31, 2022, that the Earnout would not be achieved.

On February 14, 2022, the Company completed the acquisition of Stage It. As a result of the Closing, Stage It became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. For the acquisition, the Company issued the initial 135,000,000 shares, paid certain amounts to Stage It vendors and will pay additional amounts as detailed under Merger Consideration in the Merger Agreement. The price to be paid in cash and stock for the Earnout Shares and Holdback Shares are set forth in the Merger Agreement.

Our Revenue Model

The live music and entertainment space are constantly searching for ways to generate revenue. Music licensing and royalties are particular “hot button” issues in the industry. We have developed solutions that create new revenue streams that simultaneously help to protect the rights of the artists. Our business model helps to ensure that creators and artists are properly compensated for their work.

Our Industry

The live music and entertainment space is constantly searching for new monetization outlets. We believe that we have developed solutions that create new revenue streams.

Since 2003, half of the nation’s CD and record stores have closed. Annual data regarding downloads was not even collected until 2004, yet in 2014 it accounted for 46% of total music industry sales. For most artists, digital sales and streaming revenues have not replaced the income they earn from recording and publishing. However, streaming revenues create an additional income stream.

A recent study on musicians’ online revenue streams, featured on www.lifeisbeautiful.com, suggests that the average payment to an artist is $0.0011 net per stream. Artists that have their content on our Set.fm mobile app receive 30% of the net revenue generated from their specific music, and artists typically received a generous “net split” from sales of DiscLive physical products, creating a more robust opportunity for artists to monetize their live shows. Live music shows are seeing significant new commercial and experiential trends driven by technology. More musicians engage directly with their fans via their web presence —selling songs and even allowing them to vote on touring venues – bypassing the traditional record labels and ticket services.

For an industry with constantly evolving trends, music’s live events have remained surprisingly static since the 1970s. VNUE employs a unique platform that provides music lovers with an exciting new way to experience the live music events they attend. With Set.fm and DiscLive, the customer can purchase the songs they just heard at the concert in excellent quality, mixed and mastered, and take that unique magical moment home to be enjoyed for a lifetime.

Almost everyone has a smartphone present with them when they attend live events. The widespread use of these mobile devices is changing the ways customers behave before, during and after a live music event. Customers use their devices to search for live music events, buy tickets, and share their experiences. Additionally, we have found that, even though the demise of CDs has been predicted for over a decade, there is still a strong demand for physical, collectible CD sets.

The rise of the mobile internet and smartphones have, in recent years, begun shaping and changing the live music concert experience for many audience members. The ability to preserve and share moments of the show as they happen—to take photos and upload them instantly, to capture videos is a growing trend. Everyone has a cell phone.

Our Company reimagines the live event experience. We connect consumers, artists and venues with the VNUE Set.fm app as well as our physical, collectible products. We create promotional and social opportunities that enhance the live concert experience. We offer certain venues a partnership to help with their sales, and artists can get added revenue with their concerts. Our app allows artists to connect with their fans at a different level.

Our technology enhances our customer’s sensory experience at live events. It creates a natural extension of earlier concert culture, allowing our customers to now have a piece of the live experience and own it forever.

Competition

Any entity that offers, or has the ability to offer, live music recordings that can be uploaded to an app-based platform is considered a direct competitor of our Company, regardless of whether the end-user is required to pay for those services or not. This also includes applications that allow users to engage in streaming activities and download musical content, such as Amazon, Apple, SoundCloud, iTunes, etc.

Competitive Strengths

We believe our expertise and experience in “Instant Live” content production and distribution is a competitive strength that differentiates us from our competitors.

VNUE’s team members have been involved in the business of instant live content since 2003. The Company’s Chief Executive Officer has vast experience with this concept and how to commercialize it. Over the years, the Company has continued to develop the processes and methodologies it uses to gain partnerships with certain artists and labels, which gives us a competitive advantage in the live content industry. We plan to continue to develop our current business model as well as introduce new innovative and immersive software features to consumers.

Intellectual Property

We have pending patents for our Soundstr™ technology and expect to file more related patents around the Soundstr ™ platform, as well as Set.fm™.

We have patent-pending technology, USPTO Application US 2017/0316089, “System and Method for Capturing, Archiving and Controlling Content in a Performance Venue”, which relates to our Soundstr™ technology.

Our Strategy for Growth

Key elements of our growth strategy include:

Corporate Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 104 W. 29th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10001, and our telephone number is 833-937-5493. Our website is VNUE.com. Information contained in, or that can be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into this annual report, and you should not consider information on our website to be part of this annual report.

Employees

We currently have 1 full-time and 4 part-time employees. We also currently engage independent contractors in the areas of accounting, legal, and corporate finance, as well as marketing and business development. The remuneration paid to our officers and directors will be more completely described elsewhere in this annual report. We expect to take on more employees or independent contractors as needed.

Legal Proceedings

In the matter of VNUE, Inc. v. Power Up Lending Group, Ltd. On October 6, 2021, the Company commenced an action against Power Up Lending Group, Ltd. “Power Up”) and Curt Kramer (“Kramer”) (Power Up and Kramer together, the “Power Up Parties”) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The complaint alleges that: (1) Power Up is an unregistered dealer acting in violation of Section 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Act”) and, pursuant to Section 29(b) of the Act, the Company is entitled to recessionary relief from certain convertible promissory notes (“Notes”) and securities purchase agreements (“SPAs”) entered into by the Company and Power Up; (2) Kramer is liable to the Company as the control person of Power Up pursuant to Section 20(a) of the Act; and (3) Power Up is liable to the Company for unjust enrichment arising from the Notes and SPAs.

On December 10, 2021, the Power Up Parties filed their pre-motion conference request letter with the Court regarding their forthcoming motion to dismiss the Company’s complaint. On December 17, 2021, the Company filed its opposition thereto. On January 26, 2022, the Company filed its amended complaint, which asserted the same causes of action set forth in the initial complaint, and further alleged that Power Up made material misstatements in connection with the purchase and sale of the Company’s securities in violation of Section 10(b) of the Act and, thus, the Company is entitled to recessionary relief from the Notes and SPAs pursuant to Section 29(b) of the Act.

On February 9, 2022, the Court ordered an initial conference. The initial conference is currently scheduled for May 16, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. (EST). As of the date hereof, the Company intends to litigate its claims for relief against the Power Up Parties.

On June 7, 2022, the Company filed a voluntary dismissal of the action because the parties reached a confidential settlement.

Golock Capital, LLC and DBW Investments, LLC v. VNUE, Inc. On September 29, 2021, Golock Capital, LLC (“Golock”) and DBW Investments, LLC (“DBW”) (Golock and DBW together, the “Golock Plaintiffs”) commenced an action against the Company in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Golock Plaintiffs’ complaint alleges that the Company is in breach of certain convertible promissory notes and securities purchase agreements separately entered into with Golock and DBW and seeks declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and specific performance against the Company.

On December 2, 2021, the Golock Plaintiffs filed their amended complaint, which asserted the same causes of action set forth in the initial complaint, and an additional cause of action for unjust enrichment. On January 19, 2022, the Company filed its answer with affirmative defenses to the amended complaint. As to its affirmative defenses, the Company asserted that the Golock Plaintiffs claims are barred because: (1) the Golock Plaintiffs are unregistered dealers acting in violation of Section 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Act”), and, pursuant to Section 29(b) of the Act, that the Company is entitled to recessionary relief from the certain convertible promissory notes and securities purchase agreements at issue in the amended complaint; and (2) that the convertible promissory notes are, in fact, criminally usurious loans that impose interest onto the Company at a rate that violates New York Penal Law § 190.40 and, therefore, the subject convertible notes are void ab initio pursuant to New York’s usury laws.

On January 20, 2022, the Court ordered that the parties submit a joint letter in lieu of a pretrial conference on or before February 3, 2022. As of the date hereof, the Company intends to vigorously defend itself against the Golock Plaintiffs claims.

On September 1, 2022, the Company filed an amended answer with counterclaims against the Plaintiffs and their control persons asserting claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) and the Act. On September 23, the Plaintiffs filed a motion to dismiss the counterclaims.

On February 14, 2023, the Court granted the motion to dismiss and also dismissed all claims against the Plaintiffs’ control persons. The Company remains committed to actively litigating its affirmative defenses under the Act of and RICO.

Smaller Reporting Company

The Company is a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act. There are certain exemptions available to us as a smaller reporting company, including: (1) not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes Oxley Act; (2) scaled executive compensation disclosures; and (3) the requirement to provide only two years of audited financial statements, instead of three years. As long as we maintain our status as a “smaller reporting company”, these exemptions will continue to be available to us.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. In addition to the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, prospective investors should carefully consider the following risks before investing in our securities. If any of the following risks actually occur, as well as other risks not currently known to us or that we currently consider immaterial, our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. As a result, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment in our common stock. The risks discussed below also include forward-looking statements, and our actual results may differ substantially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. See “Cautionary Note On Forward-Looking Statements” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In assessing the risks below, you should also refer to the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the financial statements and the related notes, before deciding to purchase any of our securities.

Risks Relating to Our Financial Condition

We cannot assure you that we will achieve or maintain profitability, and our auditor has expressed substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

We will need to raise additional working capital to continue our normal and planned operations. We will need to generate and sustain significant revenue levels in future periods in order to become profitable, and even if we do, we may not be able to maintain or increase our level of profitability. Our efforts to build and grow our business may be costlier than we expect, and we may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to offset our operating expenses. We are operating at a loss and may incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons, including unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications and delays and other unknown events. Accordingly, substantial doubt exists about our ability to continue as a going concern, and we cannot assure you that we will achieve sustainable operating profits as we continue to expand our business and otherwise implement our growth initiatives.

The financial statements included with this Form 10-K have been prepared on a going concern basis. We may not be able to generate profitable operations in the future and/or obtain the necessary financing to meet our obligations and pay liabilities arising from normal business operations when they come due. The outcome of these matters cannot be predicted with any certainty at this time. These factors raise substantial doubt that we will be able to continue as a going concern. We plan to continue to provide for our capital needs through sales of our securities and/or related party advances. Our financial statements do not include any adjustments to the amounts and classification of assets and liabilities that may be necessary should we be unable to continue as a going concern.

We have a very limited operating history of commercializing the IT assets and operations, and we have incurred losses since our inception and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future. We may never generate any revenue or become profitable, or if we achieve profitability, we may not be able to sustain it.

Because we acquired Stage It in February 2022, we have a very limited operating history in commercializing its assets, upon which you can evaluate our business and prospects. We have not yet demonstrated an ability to overcome many of the risks and uncertainties frequently encountered by companies in the entertainment industry.

Investment in our common stock is highly speculative because we require substantial upfront capital expenditures, which we do not have available. We are not profitable and have incurred losses in the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, we reported a net loss of $22,762,622 and $2,920,382, respectively, and we had an accumulated deficit of $36,808,403 and $13,835,294, respectively.

We expect to continue to incur significant losses for the foreseeable future, and we expect these losses to increase as we develop our operations and incorporate the business of Stage It into our business.

Because we have a limited operating history, you may not be able to accurately evaluate our operations.

We have had limited operations to date and have generated limited revenues. Therefore, we have a limited operating history upon which to evaluate the merits of investing in our company. Potential investors should be aware of the difficulties normally encountered by new companies and the high rate of failure of such enterprises. The likelihood of success must be considered in light of the problems, expenses, difficulties, complications and delays encountered in connection with the operations that we plan to undertake. These potential problems include but are not limited to, unanticipated problems relating to the ability to generate sufficient cash flow to operate our business and additional costs and expenses that may exceed current estimates. We expect to incur significant losses into the foreseeable future. We recognize that if the effectiveness of our business plan is not forthcoming, we will not be able to continue business operations. There is no history upon which to base any assumption as to the likelihood that we will prove successful, and it is doubtful that we will continue to generate operating revenues or ever achieve profitable operations. If we are unsuccessful in addressing these risks, our business will most likely fail.

We are dependent on outside financing for continuation of our operations.

Because we have generated limited revenues and currently operate at a loss, we are completely dependent on the continued availability of financing in order to continue our business. There can be no assurance that financing sufficient to enable us to continue our operations will be available to us in the future.

We are dependent on outside financing for continuation of our operations.

Because we have generated limited revenues and currently operate at a loss, we are completely dependent on the continued availability of financing in order to continue our business operations. There can be no assurance that financing sufficient to enable us to continue our operations will be available to us in the future. As of December 31, 2022, we had cash on hand of $82,807.

We will need additional funds to complete further development of our business plan to achieve a sustainable level where ongoing operations can be funded out of revenues. We anticipate that we must raise $2,500,000 for our operations for the next 12 months, and $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 million to fully implement our business plan to its fullest potential and achieve our growth plans, including new initiatives. There is no assurance that any additional financing will be available or, if available, on terms that will be acceptable to us. Our failure to obtain future financing or to produce levels of revenue to meet our financial needs could result in our inability to continue as a going concern, and, as a result, our investors could lose their entire investment.

Our operating results may fluctuate, which could have a negative impact on our ability to grow our client base, establish sustainable revenues and succeed overall.

Our results of operations may fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, some of which are beyond our control, including but not limited to:

As a result of these factors, we may not succeed in our business and we could go out of business.

As a growing company, we have yet to achieve a profit and may not achieve a profit in the near future, if at all.

We have not yet produced any profit and may not in the near future, if at all. While we have generated limited revenue, all related party, we cannot be certain that we will be able to realize sufficient revenue to achieve profitability. Further, many of our competitors have a significantly larger industry presence and revenue stream but have yet to achieve profitability. Our ability to continue as a going concern is dependent upon raising capital from financing transactions, increasing revenue and keeping operating expenses below our revenue levels in order to achieve positive cash flows, none of which can be assured.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property

We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims, which may be expensive to defend and may disrupt our business and operations.

We cannot be certain that our operations or any aspects of our business do not or will not infringe upon or otherwise violate intellectual property rights held by third parties. We have not been, but in the future may be, subject to legal proceedings and claims relating to the intellectual property rights of others. There could also be existing intellectual property of which we are not aware that our products may inadvertently infringe. We cannot assure you that holders of intellectual property purportedly relating to some aspect of our technology or business, if any such holders exist, would not seek to enforce such intellectual property against us in the United States, or any other jurisdictions. If we are found to have violated the intellectual property rights of others, we may be subject to liability for our infringement activities or may be prohibited from using such intellectual property, and we may incur licensing fees or be forced to develop alternatives of our own. In addition, we may incur significant expenses and may be forced to divert management’s time and other resources from our business and operations to defend against these infringement claims, regardless of their merits. Successful infringement or licensing claims made against us may result in significant monetary liabilities and may materially disrupt our business and operations by restricting or prohibiting our use of the intellectual property in question, and our business, financial position and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Our commercial success depends significantly on our ability to develop and commercialize our services and platform without infringing the intellectual property rights of third parties.

Our commercial success will depend, in part, on operating our business without infringing the trademarks or proprietary rights of third parties. Third parties that believe we are infringing on their rights could bring actions against us, claiming damages and seeking to enjoin the development, marketing and distribution of our services and platform. If we become involved in any litigation, it could consume a substantial portion of our resources, regardless of the outcome of the litigation. If any of these actions are successful, we could be required to pay damages and/or obtain a license to continue to develop or market our products, in which case we may be required to pay substantial royalties. However, any such license may not be available on terms acceptable to us or at all.

Risks Related to Legal Uncertainty

Compliance with changing regulation of corporate governance and public disclosure may result in additional expenses.

Changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and new SEC regulations, are creating uncertainty for companies such as ours. These new or changed laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies, which could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure. As a result, we intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new or changed laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to practice, our reputation may be harmed.

If we fail to comply with the new rules under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act related to accounting controls and procedures, or if material weaknesses or other deficiencies are discovered in our internal accounting procedures, our stock price could decline significantly.

We are exposed to potential risks from legislation requiring companies to evaluate internal controls under Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. As a smaller reporting company, we are required to provide a report on the effectiveness of its internal controls over financial reporting, and we will be exempt from auditor attestation requirements concerning any such report so long as we are a smaller reporting company. There is a greater likelihood of material weaknesses in our internal controls, which could lead to misstatements or omissions in our reported financial statements as compared to issuers that have conducted such evaluations.

In its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, the Company determined that there were deficiencies that constituted material weaknesses, as described below.

Material weaknesses and deficiencies could cause investors to lose confidence in our company and result in a decline in our stock price and consequently affect our financial condition. In addition, if we fail to achieve and maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, we may not be able to ensure that we can conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Moreover, effective internal controls, particularly those related to revenue recognition, are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important to helping prevent financial fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business and operating results could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, and the trading price of our common stock could drop significantly. In addition, we cannot be certain that additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal controls will not be discovered in the future.

Risks Related to Our Business

If we fail to keep up with industry trends or technological developments, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

The live music content industry is rapidly evolving and subject to continuous technological changes. Our success will depend on our ability to keep up with the changes in technology and user behavior resulting from new developments and innovations. For example, as we provide our product and service offerings across a variety of mobile systems and devices, we are dependent on the interoperability of our services with popular mobile devices and mobile operating systems that we do not control, such as Android and iOS. If any changes in such mobile operating systems or devices degrade the functionality of our services or give preferential treatment to competitive services, the usage of our services could be adversely affected.

Technological innovations may also require substantial capital expenditures in product development as well as in modification of products, services or infrastructure. We cannot assure you that we can obtain financing to cover such expenditure. If we fail to adapt our products and services to such changes in an effective and timely manner, we may suffer from decreased user base, which, in turn, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Rapidly evolving technologies could cause demand for our products to decline or could cause our products to become obsolete.

Current or future competitors may develop technological or product innovations that address live music content in a manner that is, or is perceived to be, equivalent or superior to our products. In the technology market, in particular, innovative products have been introduced which have the effect of revolutionizing a product category and rendering many existing products obsolete. If competitors introduce new products or services that compete with or surpass the quality or the price/performance of our products, we may be unable to attract and retain users or to maintain or increase revenues from our users. We may not anticipate such developments and may be unable to adequately compete with these potential solutions. As a result of these or similar potential developments, in the future it is possible that competitive dynamics in our market may require us to reduce prices for our paid for products, which could harm our net revenues, gross margin and operating results or cause us to incur losses.

Our business depends on our users having continued and unimpeded access to the Internet. Companies providing access to the Internet may be able to block or degrade our calls, or block access to our website or charge us or our users additional fees for our products.

All of our users rely on open, unrestricted access to the Internet to use our products. If they have limited, restricted or no access at all to the Internet, or their connection to the Internet is interrupted or disturbed, they may be less likely to use our products as a result.

Some of these internet providers have stated that they may take measures that could increase the cost of customers’ use of our products by restricting or prohibiting the use of their lines or access points to the Internet for our products, by filtering, blocking, delaying, or degrading the packets of data used to transmit our communications, and by charging increased fees to our users for access to our products.

Some Internet access providers have additionally, or alternatively, contractually restricted their customers’ access to Internet communications products through their terms of service. Customers of these and other Internet access providers may not be aware that technical disruptions or additional tariffs are the acts of other parties, which could harm our brand. Even if customers understand that we are not the source of such disruptions, they may be less likely to use our products as a result.

In the United States, the European Union and other jurisdictions, regulatory authorities are in the process of examining the adoption of “network neutrality” policies, which aim to treat all Internet traffic equally, and developing or considering laws and regulations to codify acceptable behaviors on the part of network operators and access providers when providing consumers and businesses with access to the Internet. Different regulatory authorities have different approaches to this policy area, both from a substantive and procedural perspective. Any failure on the part of regulatory authorities to protect the accessibility of the Internet to all, or any particular category of, Internet subscribers, or their failure to protect the delivery on a non-discriminatory basis of user communications over the Internet, regardless of type or service, could harm our results of operations and prospects.

Our business depends on the continued reliability of the Internet infrastructure.

If Internet service providers and other third parties providing Internet services have outages or deteriorations in their quality of service, our customers will not have access to our products or may experience a decrease in the quality of our products.

Furthermore, as the rate of adoption of new technology increases, the networks on which our products rely in certain countries may not be able to sufficiently adapt to the increased demand for their products and services. Frequent or persistent interruptions could cause current or potential users to believe that our systems are unreliable, leading them to switch to our competitors or to avoid our products, and could permanently harm our reputation and brands.

We cannot control internet-based delays and interruptions, which may negatively affect our customers and, thus, our revenues.

Any delay or interruption in the services by these third parties service providers could result in delayed or interrupted service to our customers and could harm our business. Accordingly, we could be adversely affected if such third-party service providers fail to maintain consistent and reliable services, or fail to continue to make these services available to us on economically acceptable terms, or at all. These suppliers could also be adversely impacted by the future pandemics, which could affect their ability to deliver their services to our customers in a satisfactory manner, or at all.

Digital piracy continues to adversely impact our business.

A substantial portion of our revenue comes from the distribution of music, which is potentially subject to unauthorized consumer copying and widespread digital dissemination without an economic return to us, including as a result of “stream-ripping.” In its Music Listening 2019 report, IFPI surveyed 34,000 Internet users to examine the ways in which music consumers aged 16 to 64 engage with recorded music across 21 countries. Of those surveyed, 23% used illegal stream-ripping services, the leading form of music piracy. Organized industrial piracy may also lead to decreased revenues. The impact of digital piracy on legitimate music revenues and subscriptions is hard to quantify, but we believe that illegal file sharing and other forms of unauthorized activity, including stream manipulation, have a substantial negative impact on music revenues. If we fail to obtain appropriate relief through the judicial process or the complete enforcement of judicial decisions issued in our favor (or if judicial decisions are not in our favor), if we are unsuccessful in our efforts to lobby governments to enact and enforce stronger legal penalties for copyright infringement or if we fail to develop effective means of protecting and enforcing our intellectual property (whether copyrights or other intellectual property rights such as patents, trademarks and trade secrets) or our music entertainment-related products or services, our results of operations, financial position and prospects may suffer.

If we are unable to successfully manage growth, our operations could be adversely affected.

Our progress is expected to require the full utilization of our management, financial and other resources, which to date has occurred with limited working capital. Our ability to manage growth effectively will depend on our ability to improve and expand operations, including our financial and management information systems, and to recruit, train and manage personnel. There can be no absolute assurance that management will be able to manage growth effectively.

If we do not properly manage the growth of our business, we may experience significant strains on our management and operations and disruptions in our business. Various risks arise when companies and industries grow quickly. If our business or industry grows too quickly, our ability to meet customer demand in a timely and efficient manner could be challenged. We may also experience development delays as we seek to meet increased demand for our services and platform. Our failure to properly manage the growth that we or our industry might experience could negatively impact our ability to execute on our operating plan and, accordingly, could have an adverse impact our business, our cash flow and results of operations, and our reputation with our current or potential customers.

We may fail to successfully integrate the acquisition of Stage It or otherwise be unable to benefit from pursuing acquisitions.

We believe there are meaningful opportunities to grow through acquisitions and joint ventures across all service categories and we expect to continue a strategy of selectively identifying and acquiring businesses with complementary services. We may be unable to identify, negotiate, and complete suitable acquisition opportunities on reasonable terms. There can be no assurance that any business acquired by us will be successfully integrated with our operations or prove to be profitable to us. We may incur future liabilities related to acquisitions. Should any of the following problems, or others, occur as a result of our acquisition strategy, the impact could be material:

Risks Related to Our Management and Control Persons

We are dependent on the continued services of Zach Bair, our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Accounting Officer, and if we fail to keep him or fail to attract and retain qualified senior executive and key technical personnel, our business will not be able to expand.

We are dependent on the continued availability of Zach Bair, our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Accounting Officer, and the availability of new employees to implement our business plans. The market for skilled employees is highly competitive, especially for employees in our industry. Although we expect that our planned compensation programs will be intended to attract and retain the employees required for us to be successful, there can be no assurance that we will be able to retain the services of all our key employees or a sufficient number to execute our plans, nor can there be any assurance we will be able to continue to attract new employees as required.

Our personnel may voluntarily terminate their relationship with us at any time, and competition for qualified personnel is intense. The process of locating additional personnel with the combination of skills and attributes required to carry out our strategy could be lengthy, costly and disruptive.

If we lose the services of key personnel or fail to replace the services of key personnel who depart, we could experience a severe negative effect on our financial results and stock price. The loss of the services of any key personnel, marketing or other personnel, or our failure to attract, integrate, motivate and retain additional key employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating and financial results and stock price.

Our lack of adequate D&O insurance may also make it difficult for us to retain and attract talented and skilled directors and officers.

Although the company plans (and has been planning) to obtain directors and officers liability (“D&O”) insurance, lack of funding has prevented the company from doing so. In the future, we may be subject to additional litigation, including potential class action and stockholder derivative actions. Risks associated with legal liability are difficult to assess and quantify, and their existence and magnitude can remain unknown for significant periods of time. To date, we have not obtained D&O insurance. Without adequate D&O insurance, the amounts we would pay to indemnify our officers and directors should they be subject to legal action based on their service to the Company could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity. Furthermore, our lack of adequate D&O insurance may make it difficult for us to retain and attract talented and skilled directors and officers, which could adversely affect our business.

The elimination of monetary liability against our directors, officers and employees under our Articles of Incorporation and the existence of indemnification rights to our directors, officers and employees may result in substantial expenditures by our Company and may discourage lawsuits against our directors, officers and employees.

Our Articles of Incorporation contain provisions that eliminate the liability of our directors for monetary damages to our Company and shareholders. Our bylaws also require us to indemnify our officers and directors. We may also have contractual indemnification obligations under our agreements with our directors, officers and employees. The foregoing indemnification obligations could result in our company incurring substantial expenditures to cover the cost of settlement or damage awards against directors, officers and employees that we may be unable to recoup. These provisions and resulting costs may also discourage our company from bringing a lawsuit against directors, officers and employees for breaches of their fiduciary duties and may similarly discourage the filing of derivative litigation by our shareholders against our directors, officers and employees even though such actions, if successful, might otherwise benefit our Company and shareholders.

Our officers and directors have limited experience managing a public company.

Our officers and directors have limited experience managing a public company. Consequently, we may not be able to raise any funds or run our public company successfully. Our executive officers’ and directors’ lack of experience of managing a public company could cause you to lose some or all of your investment.

Our failure to adopt certain corporate governance procedures may prevent us from obtaining a listing on a national securities exchange.

We do not have an audit, compensation or nominating and corporate governance committee. The functions such committees would perform are performed by the board as a whole. Consequently, there is a potential conflict of interest in board decisions that may adversely affect our ability to become a listed security on a national securities exchange and, as a result, adversely affect the liquidity of our Common Stock.

Risks Related to Our Securities and the Over-the-Counter Market

Since we are traded on the OTC Pink Market, an active, liquid trading market for our common stock may not develop or be sustained. If and when an active market develops, the price of our common stock may be volatile.

Presently, our common stock is quoted on the OTC Markets, and the closing price of our stock on April 7, 2023 was $0.0044. Presently, there is limited trading in our stock, and in the absence of an active trading market, investors may have difficulty buying and selling or obtaining market quotations, market visibility for shares of our common stock may be limited, and a lack of visibility for shares of our common stock may have a depressive effect on the market price for shares of our common stock.

The lack of an active market impairs your ability to sell your shares at the time you wish to sell them or at a price that you consider reasonable. The lack of an active market may also reduce the fair market value of your shares. An inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital to continue to fund operations by selling shares.

Trading in stocks quoted on the OTC Pink Market is often thin and characterized by wide fluctuations in trading prices due to many factors that may have little to do with our operations or business prospects. The securities market has, from time to time, experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are not related to the operating performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may also materially and adversely affect the market price of shares of our common stock. Moreover, the OTC Markets is not a stock exchange, and trading of securities is often more sporadic than the trading of securities listed on a quotation system like Nasdaq or a national stock exchange like the NYSE. Accordingly, stockholders may have difficulty reselling any shares of common stock.

There is no assurance that we will be able to pay dividends to our shareholders, which means that you could receive little or no return on your investment.

Payment of dividends from our earnings and profits may be made at the sole discretion of our board of directors. There is no assurance that we will generate any distributable cash from operations. Our board may elect to retain cash for operating purposes, debt retirement, or some other purpose. Consequently, you may receive little or no return on your investment.

Our shares will be subordinate to all of our debts and liabilities, which increases the risk that you could lose your entire investment.

Our shares are equity interests that will be subordinate to all of our current and future indebtedness with respect to claims on our assets. In any liquidation, all of our debts and liabilities must be paid before any payment is made to our shareholders. The amount of any debt financing we incur creates a substantial risk that in the event of our bankruptcy, liquidation or reorganization, we may have no assets remaining for distribution to our shareholders after payment of our debts.

Our Board of Directors may authorize and issue shares of new classes of stock that could be superior to or adversely affect you as a holder of our common stock.

Our board of directors has the power to authorize and issue shares of classes of stock, including preferred stock that have voting powers, designations, preferences, limitations and special rights, including preferred distribution rights, conversion rights, redemption rights and liquidation rights without further shareholder approval which could adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock. In addition, our board could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that has greater voting power than our common stock or that is convertible into our common stock, which could decrease the relative voting power of our common stock or result in dilution to our existing common stockholders.

Any of these actions could significantly adversely affect the investment made by holders of our common stock. Holders of common stock could potentially not receive dividends that they might otherwise have received. In addition, holders of our common stock could receive less proceeds in connection with any future sale of the Company, whether in liquidation or on any other basis.

Our existing stockholders will experience significant dilution from outstanding convertible notes, the acquisition of Stage It and conversion of existing preferred stock to common stock and the exercise of warrants.

As of the date of Form 10-K, we may be required to issue up to an aggregate of 1,946,411,648 shares of our common stock:

The issuance of our common stock in accordance with the foregoing has had and will continue to have a dilutive impact on our shareholders. As a result, the market price of our common stock could decline. In addition, the lower our stock price is at the time we the Series B Preferred converts to common stock, the more shares of our common stock we will have to issue. If our stock price decreases, then our existing shareholders will experience greater dilution. The perceived risk of dilution may cause our stockholders to sell their shares, which may cause a decline in the price of our common stock. Moreover, the perceived risk of dilution and the resulting downward pressure on our stock price could encourage investors to engage in short sales of our common stock. By increasing the number of shares offered for sale, material amounts of short selling could further contribute to progressive price declines in the price of our common stock.

Shares eligible for future sale may adversely affect the market price of our common stock, as the future sale of a substantial amount of outstanding common stock in the public marketplace could reduce the price of our common stock.

The market price of our shares could decline as a result of sales of substantial amounts of our shares in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur. In addition, these factors could make it more difficult for us to raise funds through future offerings of our common stock.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud.

The SEC, as required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, adopted rules requiring every public company to include a management report on such company’s internal controls over financial reporting in its annual report, which contains management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting.

Our reporting obligations as a public company place a significant strain on our management and operational and financial resources and systems. Effective internal controls, particularly those related to revenue recognition, are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important to prevent fraud. As a result, our failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting may result in the loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, which in turn may harm our business and negatively impact the trading price of our stock. Furthermore, we anticipate that we will continue to incur considerable costs and use significant management time and other resources in an effort to comply with Section 404 and other requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

We may, in the future, issue additional common shares, which would reduce investors’ percent of ownership and may dilute our share value.

Our Articles of Incorporation authorizes the issuance of 4,000,000,000 shares of common stock. As of April 14, 2023, we had 1,815,859,522 shares of common stock issued and outstanding. The future issuance of common stock will result in substantial dilution in the percentage of our common stock held by our then existing shareholders. We may value any common stock issued in the future on an arbitrary basis. The issuance of common stock for future services or acquisitions or other corporate actions may have the effect of diluting the value of the shares held by our investors and might have an adverse effect on any trading market for our common stock.

There is a limited market for our common stock, which may make it difficult for holders of our common stock to sell their stock.

Our common stock currently trades on the OTC Pink under the symbol “VNUE”, and currently, there is limited trading activity in our common stock and limited public information regarding our company. Accordingly, there can be no assurance as to the liquidity of any markets that may develop for our common stock, the ability of holders of our common stock to sell our common stock or the prices at which holders may be able to sell our common stock. Further, many brokerage firms will not process transactions involving low-priced stocks, especially those that come within the definition of a “penny stock.” If we cease to be quoted, holders of our common stock may find it more difficult to dispose of, or to obtain accurate quotations as to the market value of our common stock, and the market value of our common stock would likely decline.

The trading price of our Common Stock is likely to be volatile, which could result in substantial losses to investors.

The trading price of our common stock is likely to be volatile and could fluctuate widely due to factors beyond our control. This may happen because of broad market and industry factors, including the performance and fluctuation of the market prices of other companies with business operations located outside of the United States. In addition to market and industry factors, the price and trading volume for our common stock may be highly volatile for factors specific to our own operations, including the following:

Any of these factors may result in large and sudden changes in the volume and price at which our common stock will trade.

In the past, shareholders of public companies have often brought securities class action suits against those companies following periods of instability in the market price of their securities. If we were involved in a class action suit, it could divert a significant amount of our management’s attention and other resources from our business and operations and require us to incur significant expenses to defend the suit, which could harm our results of operations. Any such class action suit, whether or not successful, could harm our reputation and restrict our ability to raise capital in the future. In addition, if a claim is successfully made against us, we may be required to pay significant damages, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We are subject to the penny stock rules, which will make shares of our common stock more difficult to sell.

We are currently subject to, and, in the future, may continue to be subject to, the SEC’s “penny stock” rules if our shares of common stock sell below $5.00 per share. Penny stocks generally are equity securities with a price of less than $5.00. The penny stock rules require broker-dealers to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document prepared by the SEC, which provides information about penny stocks and the nature and level of risks in the penny stock market. The broker-dealer must also provide the customer with current bid and offer quotations for the penny stock, the compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson, and monthly account statements showing the market value of each penny stock held in the customer’s account. The bid and offer quotations and the broker-dealer and salesperson compensation information must be given to the customer orally or in writing prior to completing the transaction and must be given to the customer in writing before or with the customer’s confirmation.

In addition, the penny stock rules require that prior to a transaction, the broker-dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written agreement to the transaction. The penny stock rules are burdensome and may reduce purchases of any offerings and reduce the trading activity for shares of our common stock. As long as our shares of common stock are subject to the penny stock rules, the holders of such shares of common stock may find it more difficult to sell their securities.

The sale or availability for sale of substantial amounts of our common stock could adversely affect their market price.

Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock and could materially impair our ability to raise capital through equity offerings in the future. Shares held by our existing shareholders may be sold in the public market in the future subject to the restrictions in Rule 144 and Rule 701 under the Securities. We currently have 1,815,859,522 shares of common stock outstanding, with approximately 224,003,001 of the shares being held by affiliates and 177,788,800 shares representing 20.2% on a fully diluted basis issuable to affiliates upon the exercise of our Series A preferred stock. We cannot predict what effect, if any, market sales of securities held by our shareholders or any other shareholder or the availability of these securities for future sale will have on the market price of our common stock.

Because we do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future, you must rely on a price appreciation of our common stock for return on your investment.

We currently intend to retain most, if not all, of our available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, we do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Therefore, you should not rely on an investment in our common stock as a source for any future dividend income.

Our board of directors has complete discretion as to whether to distribute dividends. Even if our board of directors decides to declare and pay dividends, the timing, amount and form of future dividends, if any, will depend on our future results of operations and cash flow, our capital requirements and surplus, the amount of distributions, if any, received by us from our subsidiaries, our financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. Accordingly, the return on your investment in our common stock will likely depend entirely upon any future price appreciation of our common stock. There is no guarantee that our common stock will appreciate in value, or even maintain the price at which you purchased the common stock. You may not realize a return on your investment in our common stock, and you may even lose your entire investment in our common stock.

Short sellers of our stock may be manipulative and may drive down the market price of our common stock.

Short selling is the practice of selling securities that the seller does not own but rather has borrowed or intends to borrow from a third party with the intention of buying identical securities at a later date to return to the lender. A short seller hopes to profit from a decline in the value of the securities between the sale of the borrowed securities and the purchase of the replacement shares, as the short seller expects to pay less in that purchase than it received in the sale. As it is, therefore, in the short seller’s interest for the price of the stock to decline, some short sellers publish, or arrange for the publication of, opinions or characterizations regarding the relevant issuer, its business prospects and similar matters calculated to or which may create negative market momentum, which may permit them to obtain profits for themselves as a result of selling the stock short. Issuers whose securities have historically had limited trading volumes and/or have been susceptible to relatively high volatility levels can be particularly vulnerable to such short seller attacks.

The publication of any such commentary regarding us by a short seller may bring about a temporary, or possibly long-term, decline in the market price of our common stock. No assurances can be made that we will not become a target of such commentary and declines in the market price of our common stock will not occur in the future in connection with such commentary by short sellers or otherwise.

Our existing stockholders will experience significant dilution from the sale of our common stock pursuant to the GHS Financing Agreement.

The sale of our common stock to GHS Investments LLC (“GHS”) in accordance with the GHS Financing Agreement will have a dilutive impact on our shareholders. As a result, the market price of our common stock could decline. In addition, the lower our stock price is at the time we exercise our put options, the more shares of our common stock we will have to issue to GHS in order to exercise a put under the Financing Agreement. If our stock price decreases, then our existing shareholders would experience greater dilution for any given dollar amount raised through the offering.

The perceived risk of dilution may cause our stockholders to sell their shares, which may cause a decline in the price of our common stock. Moreover, the perceived risk of dilution and the resulting downward pressure on our stock price could encourage investors to engage in short sales of our common stock. By increasing the number of shares offered for sale, material amounts of short selling could further contribute to progressive price declines in our common stock.

The issuance of shares pursuant to the Financing Agreement may have a significant dilutive effect.

Depending on the number of shares we issue pursuant to the GHS Financing Agreement, it could have a significant dilutive effect upon our existing shareholders. Although the number of shares that we may issue pursuant to the Financing Agreement will vary based on our stock price (the higher our stock price, the less shares we have to issue), there may be a potential dilutive effect to our shareholders, based on different potential future stock prices, if the full amount of the Financing Agreement is realized. Dilution is based upon common stock put to GHS and the stock price discounted to 80% of the lowest daily VWAP of our common stock during the ten (10) business days beginning on the date on which we deliver a put notice to GHS.

GHS will pay less than the then-prevailing market price of our common stock, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

Our common stock to be issued under the GHS Financing Agreement will be purchased at 80% of the lowest daily VWAP of our common stock during the ten (10) business days beginning on the date on which we deliver a put notice to GHS.

GHS has a financial incentive to sell our shares immediately upon receiving them to realize the profit between the discounted price and the market price. If GHS sells our shares, the price of our common stock may decrease. If our stock price decreases, GHS may have further incentive to sell such shares. Accordingly, the discounted sales price in the Financing Agreement may cause the price of our common stock to decline.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or publish negative reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will, to some extent, depend on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our shares or change their opinion of our shares, our share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.

None.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.

We own no real property. We rent space at 104 W. 29th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Currently, rent at this location is approximately $1000 per month. We believe this property to be adequate to our needs for the time being. We also rent a small distribution center in Memphis, TN, which is also approximately $1000 per month.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

In the matter of VNUE, Inc. v. Power Up Lending Group, Ltd. On October 6, 2021, the Company commenced an action against Power Up Lending Group, Ltd. “Power Up”) and Curt Kramer (“Kramer”) (Power Up and Kramer together, the “Power Up Parties”) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The complaint alleges that: (1) Power Up is an unregistered dealer acting in violation of Section 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Act”) and, pursuant to Section 29(b) of the Act, the Company is entitled to recessionary relief from certain convertible promissory notes (“Notes”) and securities purchase agreements (“SPAs”) entered into by the Company and Power Up; (2) Kramer is liable to the Company as the control person of Power Up pursuant to Section 20(a) of the Act; and (3) Power Up is liable to the Company for unjust enrichment arising from the Notes and SPAs.

On December 10, 2021, the Power Up Parties filed their pre-motion conference request letter with the Court regarding their forthcoming motion to dismiss the Company’s complaint. On December 17, 2021, the Company filed its opposition thereto. On January 26, 2022, the Company filed its amended complaint, which asserted the same causes of action set forth in the initial complaint, and further alleged that Power Up made material misstatements in connection with the purchase and sale of the Company’s securities in violation of Section 10(b) of the Act and, thus, the Company is entitled to recessionary relief from the Notes and SPAs pursuant to Section 29(b) of the Act.

On February 9, 2022, the Court ordered an initial conference. The initial conference is currently scheduled for May 16, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. (EST). As of the date hereof, the Company intends to litigate its claims for relief against the Power Up Parties.

On June 7, 2022, the Company filed a voluntary dismissal of the action because the parties reached a confidential settlement.

Golock Capital, LLC and DBW Investments, LLC v. VNUE, Inc. On September 29, 2021, Golock Capital, LLC (“Golock”) and DBW Investments, LLC (“DBW”) (Golock and DBW together, the “Golock Plaintiffs”) commenced an action against the Company in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The Golock Plaintiffs’ complaint alleges that the Company is in breach of certain convertible promissory notes and securities purchase agreements separately entered into with Golock and DBW and seeks declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and specific performance against the Company.

On December 2, 2021, the Golock Plaintiffs filed their amended complaint, which asserted the same causes of action set forth in the initial complaint, and an additional cause of action for unjust enrichment. On January 19, 2022, the Company filed its answer with affirmative defenses to the amended complaint. As to its affirmative defenses, the Company asserted that the Golock Plaintiffs claims are barred because: (1) the Golock Plaintiffs are unregistered dealers acting in violation of Section 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Act”), and, pursuant to Section 29(b) of the Act, that the Company is entitled to recessionary relief from the certain convertible promissory notes and securities purchase agreements at issue in the amended complaint; and (2) that the convertible promissory notes are, in fact, criminally usurious loans that impose interest onto the Company at a rate that violates New York Penal Law § 190.40 and, therefore, the subject convertible notes are void ab initio pursuant to New York’s usury laws.

On January 20, 2022, the Court ordered that the parties submit a joint letter in lieu of a pretrial conference on or before February 3, 2022. As of the date hereof, the Company intends to vigorously defend itself against the Golock Plaintiffs claims.

On September 1, 2022, the Company filed an amended answer with counterclaims against the Plaintiffs and their control persons asserting claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) and the Act. On September 23, the Plaintiffs filed a motion to dismiss the counterclaims.

On February 14, 2023, the Court granted the motion to dismiss and also dismissed all claims against the Plaintiffs’ control persons. The Company remains committed to actively litigating its affirmative defenses under the Act of and RICO.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.

Not applicable.

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.

Market Price for our Common Stock

There is a limited public market for our common shares. Our common shares are quoted on the OTC Pink under the symbol “VNUE”. Trading in stocks quoted on the OTC Pink is often thin and is characterized by wide fluctuations in trading prices due to many factors that may be unrelated to a company’s operations or business prospects. We cannot assure you that there will be a market in the future for our common stock.

OTC Pink securities are not listed or traded on the floor of an organized national or regional stock exchange. Instead, OTC Pink securities transactions are conducted through a telephone and computer network connecting dealers in stocks. OTC Pink issuers are traditionally smaller companies that do not meet the financial and other listing requirements of a regional or national stock exchange.

Our common stock became eligible for quotation on the OTC Pink in December 2006. Over-the-counter market quotations reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission, and may not necessarily represent actual transactions.

Penny Stock

The SEC has adopted rules that regulate broker-dealer practices in connection with transactions in penny stocks. Penny stocks are generally equity securities with a market price of less than $5.00, other than securities registered on certain national securities exchanges or quoted on the Nasdaq system, provided that current price and volume information with respect to transactions in such securities is provided by the exchange or system. The penny stock rules require a broker-dealer, prior to a transaction in a penny stock, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document prepared by the SEC, that: (a) contains a description of the nature and level of risk in the market for penny stocks in both public offerings and secondary trading; (b) contains a description of the broker’s or dealer’s duties to the customer and of the rights and remedies available to the customer with respect to a violation of such duties or other requirements of the securities laws; (c) contains a brief, clear, narrative description of a dealer market, including bid and ask prices for penny stocks and the significance of the spread between the bid and ask price; (d) contains a toll-free telephone number for inquiries on disciplinary actions; (e) defines significant terms in the disclosure document or in the conduct of trading in penny stocks; and (f) contains such other information and is in such form, including language, type size and format, as the SEC shall require by rule or regulation.

The broker-dealer also must provide, prior to effecting any transaction in a penny stock, the customer with (a) bid and offer quotations for the penny stock; (b) the compensation of the broker-dealer and its salesperson in the transaction; (c) the number of shares to which such bid and ask prices apply, or other comparable information relating to the depth and liquidity of the market for such stock; and (d) a monthly account statement showing the market value of each penny stock held in the customer’s account.

In addition, the penny stock rules require that prior to a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from those rules, the broker-dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written acknowledgment of the receipt of a risk disclosure statement, a written agreement as to transactions involving penny stocks, and a signed and dated copy of a written suitability statement.

These disclosure requirements may have the effect of reducing the trading activity for our common stock. Therefore, stockholders may have difficulty selling our securities.

Holders

On April 8, 2022, there were 241 holders of record of our Common Stock. The number of record holders does not include an indeterminate number of stockholders whose shares are held by brokers in street name.

Dividend Policy

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. We intend to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the expansion of our business. As a result, the Company does not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

There are no restrictions in our articles of incorporation or bylaws that prevent us from declaring dividends. The Nevada Revised Statutes, however, do prohibit us from declaring dividends where after giving effect to the distribution of the dividend:

Rule 10B-18 Transactions

None.

Equity Compensation Plans

On October 4, 2022, the Company adopted an Equity Compensation Plan. The terms of the plan are as follows:

PART I – GENERAL COMPENSATION (“COMPENSATION LEVELS”)

Executives in VNUE will be paid in accordance with similar companies, at similar levels, and at similar stages of development. Compensation levels, which will become effective post-funding of $2,500,000 to $5,000,000, will be communicated and formalized via email. New salaries require “full time” participation, meaning substantially all of the employee’s or contractor’s time devoted to furthering VNUE’s business objectives.

PART II – BONUS COMPENSATION (“BONUS COMPENSATION”)

Bonus Compensation will be rewarded, at the option of the recipient, in restricted shares of the Company’s common securities, or cash, in a strategic transaction, subsidiary, joint venture, contract right, intellectual property, merger, acquisition, royalties or other asset, or in any combination of the above. This compensation will be rewarded based on identifying, negotiating, contracting or otherwise playing a team role with other key personnel in the closing of (a) revenue deals, (b) funding deals, or (c) strategic deals, mergers or acquisitions.

The Bonus Compensation will be 20% of what the value is to the Company, will be shared equally between the key personnel who took a direct role in securing the opportunity, and will be rewarded at the time the company either (a) closes a funding deal, (b) completes an acquisition, or (c) when the company realizes revenues, profits, EBITDA, free cash flow, cash distributions, dividends, sale proceeds, or other value of any kind. This includes goal-related acquisitions, whereby shares are awarded to acquisition targets based on performance.

The Bonus Compensation is based on the net consideration delivered to the company and will be paid quarterly in arrears. This means, if, for example, two employees secure $100,000 in funding, less the broker fee of $20,000, the Bonus Compensation would be rewarded based on the $80,000 the Company receives, which would be $16,000 in performance-based incentive compensation that would be split between the two employees. In another example, if an employee brings a revenue deal to StageIt, and that deal generates $100,000 (in the current StageIt Model), the Company would net $20,000. Therefore, that employee would receive $5,000 in performance-based incentive compensation.

For revenue deals, this may be delivered in the Company’s restricted common stock, cash (at the time it is realized), or a combination of the two. Performance-based incentive compensation will be rewarded only when value is realized, or when transactions are complete, quarterly, in arrears (in some cases, when possible, the Company may, at its discretion, accelerate these rewards). For further clarification, the recently completed StageIt transaction and related equity finance line are included in this plan, as are proposed transactions in the last stages of closing. As with all other transactions, when there is a contingent nature to a transaction, such as StageIt, or like the equity finance line, performance-based compensation will only be paid on consideration actually paid, or value actually received over time as the contingent nature of the transactions are actually satisfied. Additionally, performance-based incentive compensation for funding deals shall only be paid in stock of the company, and the company will endeavor to issue the shares in as tax-advantaged a way as possible.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

The sales and issuances of the securities described below were made pursuant to the exemptions from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and Regulation D under the Securities Act. Each purchaser represented that such purchaser’s intention to acquire the shares for investment only and not with a view toward distribution. We requested our stock transfer agent to affix appropriate legends to the stock certificate issued to each purchaser and the transfer agent affixed the appropriate legends. None of the securities were sold through an underwriter, and accordingly, there were no underwriting, discounts or commissions involved.

During the 3-year period prior to the filing of this Form 10-K, the Company entered into the following transactions:

During the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company entered into the following transactions:

During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company entered into the following transactions:

These securities were issued pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act and/or Rule 506 promulgated thereunder. The holders represented their intention to acquire the securities for investment only and not with a view toward distribution. The investors were given adequate information about us to make an informed investment decision. We did not engage in any general solicitation or advertising. We directed our transfer agent to issue the stock certificates with the appropriate restrictive legend affixed to the restricted stock.

The sales and issuances of the securities described below were made pursuant to the exemptions from registration contained in Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and Regulation D under the Securities Act. Each purchaser represented that such purchaser’s intention to acquire the shares for investment only and not with a view toward distribution. We requested our stock transfer agent to affix appropriate legends to the stock certificate issued to each purchaser, and the transfer agent affixed the appropriate legends. Each purchaser was given adequate access to sufficient information about us to make an informed investment decision.

ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA.

Not applicable to a smaller reporting company.

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Forward-Looking Statements

The statements in this quarterly report that are not reported financial results or other historical information are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements appear in a number of different places in this report and can be identified by words such as “estimates”, “projects”, “expects”, “intends”, “believes”, “plans”, or their negatives or other comparable words. Also, look for discussions of strategies that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding our business plans and availability of financing for our business. Some forward-looking statements that we may use include, without limitation, those statements that relate to:

You are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees and may involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements due to risks facing us or due to facts differing from the assumptions underlying our estimates. Some of these risks and assumptions include those set forth in reports and other documents we have filed with or furnished to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). We advise you that these cautionary remarks expressly qualify in their entirety for all forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf. Unless required by law, we do not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements based on unanticipated events or changed expectations. However, you should carefully review the reports and other documents we file from time to time with the SEC.

Presentation of Information

As used in this quarterly report, the terms “we”, “us”, “our” and the “Company” mean VNUE, Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless the context requires otherwise.

All dollar amounts in this annual report refer to US dollars unless otherwise indicated.

Overview

We were incorporated as a Nevada corporation on April 4, 2006.

Impact of the Current Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic on the Company

Covid-19 has had a material adverse effect on our live recording business and the music industry in general. Substantially all of our future set.fm and DiscLive business is dependent on the success of public events and gatherings. We believe that the vaccination efforts throughout the world are having a positive impact on the population that may enable more live music events to be held in the future, which would be beneficial to our business; however, there can be no assurances on the timing of when this may occur or whether it will occur at all.

Overview

Our Business

We are a music technology company that utilizes our platforms to record live concerts and then sell the content to consumers. We make the content we record available to the set.fm platform, as well as our website, immediately after the show is finished. Our technology helps artists and record labels generate alternative income from the recorded content. We also offer high-end collectible products such as CDs, USB drives and laminates, which feature our fully mixed and mastered live concert content.

Until the acquisition of Stage It, described below, we had two products:

While Set.fm™ and Soundstr™ are proprietary marks of the Company, DiscLive, and its related marks and names are not owned by the Company and are owned and utilized by RockHouse Live Media Productions, Inc. The Company has not filed any formal trademark applications relating to Set.fm™ with the United States US Patent and Trademark Office but has been using these marks openly since 2017 and claims common law rights to them.

The Company currently only generates revenue from Set.fm and from DiscLive by (a) recording the audio of live concerts and then selling the content “instantly” through its set.fm website, as well as the IOS Set.fm mobile application, and (b) selling content on physical products such as CDs, which are burned on-site where customers can purchase them. Our customers are fans of live music and the bands which we record.

Customers want to “take home” their experience of the concerts they attend. Our Company enters into agreements with certain bands and artists and record labels, if a particular artist is under contract with the label. Our teams then follow that artist or band while they are on tour and record every show on that tour. Our Company uses its own recording and sound equipment while recording concerts.

As we partner with both artists and labels, we market our services on their websites, social media platforms, and mailing lists, as well as our own websites and social networks. Furthermore, partnerships with companies similar to Ticketmaster allow us to market to customers when they buy tickets to see certain artists in concert.

On February 13, 2022, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with VNUE Acquisition Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“MergerCo”), Stage It Corp., a Delaware corporation (“Stage It”), and the stockholders’ representative for Stage It, pursuant to which the Company agreed to acquire Stage It for $10 million (the “Merger Consideration”), by merging MergerCo with and into Stage It, with Stage It continuing as the surviving entity and wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Merger”).

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, each of Stage It’s outstanding shares (including common and preferred shares) will be converted into the right to receive the applicable portion of the Merger Consideration. A portion of the Merger Consideration will be paid in cash and take the form of satisfying certain outstanding debt obligations of Stage It, as outlined in a Closing Payment Certificate to the Merger Agreement, and the other portion will be paid in shares of the Company’s common stock or preferred stock, with the actual number of such shares to be issued reduced by the cash component outlaid in the transaction. A portion of the Merger Consideration, $1 million, will be held back for the purposes of satisfying certain contingent obligations of Stage It. Though the period ended December 31, 2022, the Company has paid approximately $1,568,000 in purchase consideration and expenses related to the acquisition.

The Merger Agreement also allows for the issuance of earn out shares, not to exceed the overall Merger Consideration, provided that certain EBIDTA requirements are met over the course of 18 months.

On February 14, 2022, the Company completed the acquisition of Stage It. As a result of the Closing, Stage It became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. For the acquisition, the Company will issue the initial 135,000,000 shares and pay certain amounts as detailed under Merger Consideration in the Merger Agreement. The price to be paid in cash and stock for the Earnout Shares and Holdback Shares are set forth in the Merger Agreement.

With the addition of Stage It (Stage It.com), VNUE will have the ability to livestream concerts and other events, adding to the pool of other live music-focused technology services. Stage It is an established platform where concerts or other live events may be ticketed (just like an in-person event), and fans who pay for tickets may enjoy a performance or other engagement by watching digital video as it occurs on their web browser. For example, an artist can create an event through the platform, then, in advance, let their fans know they can purchase the ability to view the concerts on the Stage It platform. Fans then buy the ability to access these concerts, and at the designated time, the fan may then observe the live performance on Stage It.com.

Recent Developments

In late July, we announced that the Company is launching an aggressive campaign to deploy its Soundstr Music Recognition Technology in every bar, restaurant and hotel in Key West, FL, and has brought on local resources to have “boots on the ground” for the rollout.

Key West is one of the most sought-after vacation spots in the world, attracting around five million tourists per year by planes, boats (including cruise ships), and automobiles. It also boasts a large number of businesses that utilize music. In fact, the famed Duval Street is lined with no less than 143 bars – in less than two miles.

Interested businesses may receive the Soundstr Pulse devices for no cost whatsoever. Additionally, in the next several months, VNUE will be offering both playlist functionality – meaning clients will be able to play fully-licensed music directly from Soundstr – as well as the ability to opt-in for advertising, which will help to offset licensing costs that businesses pay. One of the strongest points about Soundstr Pulse is that it does have high-quality audio output capabilities (for use with advertising and for playlists), as well as Bluetooth beacon technology that will be leveraged for non-invasive advertising.

Also, in late July, we announced the Company is partnering with Key West’s Barefoot Radio 104.9 and RockHouse Live Key West in collaboration on a new music show centered around local artists and those artists who pass through the exotic and beautiful island on tour.

Live and Local at RockHouse Live Key West™ will air every Thursday night, starting September 1, 2022, from 8 PM to 10 PM, 100% live from RockHouse Live Key West’s exclusive Rock Room.

In addition to being carried on terrestrial radio by Barefoot 104.9, the show will also air on VNUE’s online and app-based radio station, VNUE Radio, and it will be professionally livestreamed on VNUE’s StageIt.com platform, both of which reach a global audience, and the latter with over a million subscribers. And it will also air on select screens at each of the other RockHouse Live locations in Clearwater Beach, Oxford, MS, and Memphis, TN.

Two musical artists, which will range from solo artists to full bands, will be featured every week, and will each be interviewed on-site in the RockHouse Live Rock Room, in front of a live audience. Each artist will also take the stage, and during their performance, the radio station will play recordings by each of the featured artists, as well as other local artists who have submitted material for consideration.

Results of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2022, and 2021

The following discussion and analysis of our results of operations and financial condition for the years ended December 31, 2022, and 2021, should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this report.

Revenues

For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had revenue of $359,147 compared to $100,476 in revenue for the same period ended December 31, 2021, an increase of $258,671. The increase in revenue for the period is attributable to the inclusion of Stage It revenues during the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to zero during the same period ended December 31, 2021.

We expect that our revenues will increase in future quarters as a result of the decreased impact of Covid-19 and the accompanying lockdowns on businesses, which has been an obstacle for live performances; however, there can be no assurances.

Direct Costs of Revenues

For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had direct costs of revenue of $325,878 compared to $153,181 for the same period ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of $172,697.

The increase in costs is attributable to Stage It. We expect to generate positive gross margins from higher sales volumes in the future, although there can be no assurances.

Operating Expenses

We incurred operating expenses in the amount of $21,849,979 for the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared with $932,134 for the same period ended December 31, 2021, an increase of $20,917,845 primarily as a result of a non-cash charge of $15,300,000 representing the fair market value of the Series C Preferred Stock voting stock received as compensation by our management and due to the impairment of goodwill and intangible assets of $4,261,683. We do not expect to have this expense in future quarters.

The balance of our operating expenses for all periods consisted of the following for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.

The increase of $20,917,845 in our operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2022 versus the same period ended 2021 is primarily attributable to a $15,300,000 non-cash stock-based compensation expense related to the issuance of Series C Preferred voting stock to our directors, the impairment of goodwill and intangible assets amounting to $4,261,683 an increase in general and administrative expenses of $351,208 due to the inclusion of Stage It operations, an increase of $247,604 in administrative fees and $758,333 due to the amortization of intangible assets related to the Stage It acquisition.

We expect our general and administrative expenses to increase in future quarters with our reporting obligations with the SEC and the increased expenses associated with increased activity with Stage It operations.

The increase of $247,604 in our professional fees for the year ended December 31, 2022 versus the same period ended 2021 is largely the result of the added cost of legal and accounting compliance in connection with the merger with StageIt and the increased costs associated with our newly acquired subsidiary.

Other Income / Expenses, Net

We recorded other expenses of $945,912 for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to other income of $3,905,221 for the year ended December 31, 2021. Our other expenses in the 2022 period were mainly attributable to financing costs and a loss on the extinguishment of debt. Our other income in the 2021 period was mainly attributable to a change in the fair market value of a derivative liability of $3,156, 582 and from other income of $1,172,789 due to the reversal of an accrued liability.

We expect to incur other expenses in future quarters as a result of financing transactions.

Net Income (Loss)

As a result of the foregoing, we recorded a net loss available to common shareholders of $22,973,109 for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared with net income available to common shareholders of $2,920,382 for the year ended December 31, 2021.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Since our inception, we have funded our operations primarily through private offerings of our equity securities and loans.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and the settlement of liabilities and commitments in the normal course of business. As reflected in the accompanying consolidated financial statements, during the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company used cash in operations of $1,276,439 and as of December 31, 2022, had a stockholders’ deficit of $36,808,403 and negative working capital of $6,469,779. These factors raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year after the date of the financial statements being issued. The ability of the Company to continue as a going concern is dependent upon the Company’s ability to raise additional funds and implement its business plan. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might be necessary if the Company is unable to continue as a going concern.

On December 31, 2022, the Company had cash on hand of $82,807, as compared with cash on hand of $36,958 as of December 31, 2021.

The continuation of the Company as a going concern is dependent upon its ability to obtain necessary debt or equity financing to continue operations until it begins generating positive cash flow. Historically, the Company has been able to fund its operations from the proceeds of notes payable and convertible notes.

More recently, the Company has been relying on issuances of its preferred stock and its equity line of credit with GHS Investments, LLC (“GHS”), described below, to fund its operations. All other financial commitments have been terminated, and we are looking for new opportunities to fund the Company to supplement our preferred stock and credit line funding. No assurance can be given that any future financing will be available or, if available, that it will be on terms that are satisfactory to the Company. Even if the Company can obtain additional financing, it may contain undue restrictions on our operations, in the case of debt financing, or cause substantial dilution for our stockholders, in the case of equity financing.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company utilized its equity line of credit and received $526,269 in gross proceeds from the issuance of 195,261,678 shares of common stock. The Company intends to continue to use its credit line to fund its operations, although there can be no assurance that there will be sufficient availability under the terms of the Equity Financing Agreement.

Additionally, the Company issued 2,305 shares of Preferred B stock to GHS and received $1,964,600 in gross proceeds, retired $319,200 in debt and paid financing fees of $68,400 from the proceeds of the Preferred B issuances.

The Company is currently looking for other opportunities to fund the Company to supplement its credit line. No assurance can be given that any future financing will be available or, if available, that it will be on terms that are satisfactory to the Company. Even if the Company can obtain additional financing, it may contain undue restrictions on our operations, in the case of debt financing or cause substantial dilution for our stockholders, in the case of equity financing.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our financial statements, which were prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, as well as the reported expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

While our significant accounting policies are more fully described in the notes to our financial statements appearing elsewhere in this prospectus, we believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to our financial results and to the understanding of our past and future performance, as these policies relate to the more significant areas involving management’s estimates and assumptions. We consider an accounting estimate to be critical if: (1) it requires us to make assumptions because the information was not available at the time or it included matters that were highly uncertain at the time we were making our estimate; and (2) changes in the estimate could have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations.

Use of Estimates and Assumptions and Critical Accounting Estimates and Assumptions

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Critical accounting estimates are estimates for which (a) the nature of the estimate is material due to the levels of subjectivity and judgment necessary to account for highly uncertain matters or the susceptibility of such matters to change and (b) the impact of the estimate on financial condition or operating performance is material. Management bases its estimates on historical experience and on various assumptions that are believed to be reasonable in relation to the financial statements taken as a whole under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Management regularly evaluates the key factors and assumptions used to develop the estimates utilizing currently available information, changes in facts and circumstances, historical experience, and reasonable assumptions. After such evaluations, if deemed appropriate, those estimates are adjusted accordingly. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Significant estimates include the assumptions used to determine the value of the derivative liabilities, the valuation allowance for the deferred tax asset, and the accruals for potential liabilities.

Derivative Financial Instruments

The Company evaluates its financial instruments to determine if such instruments are derivatives or contain features that qualify as embedded derivatives. For derivative financial instruments that are accounted for as liabilities, the derivative instrument is initially recorded at its fair value and is then re-valued at each reporting date, with changes in the fair value reported in the consolidated statements of operations. The classification of derivative instruments, including whether such instruments should be recorded as liabilities or as equity, is evaluated at the end of each reporting period. Derivative instrument liabilities are classified in the balance sheet as current or non-current based on whether or not the net-cash settlement of the derivative instrument could be required within 12 months of the balance sheet date.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company periodically issues stock options and warrants to employees and non-employees in non-capital raising transactions for services and financing costs. The Company accounts for stock option and warrant grants issued and vesting to employees based on the authoritative guidance provided by FASB where the value of the award is measured on the date of grant and recognized as compensation expense on the straight-line basis over the vesting period. The Company accounts for stock option and warrant grants issued and vesting to non-employees in accordance with the authoritative guidance of the FASB where the value of the stock compensation is based upon the measurement date as determined at either a) the date at which a performance commitment is reached, or b) at the date at which the necessary performance to earn the equity instruments is complete. Options granted to non-employees are revalued each reporting period to determine the amount to be recorded as an expense in the respective period. As the options vest, they are valued on each vesting date and an adjustment is recorded for the difference between the value already recorded and the then-current value on the date of vesting. In certain circumstances where there are no future performance requirements by the non-employee, option grants are immediately vested and the total stock-based compensation charge is recorded in the period of the measurement date.

The fair value of the Company’s stock option and warrant grants are estimated using the Black-Scholes-Merton Option Pricing model, which uses certain assumptions related to risk-free interest rates, expected volatility, expected life of the stock options or warrants, and future dividends. Compensation expense is recorded based upon the value derived from the Black-Scholes-Merton Option Pricing model, and based on actual experience. The assumptions used in the Black-Scholes-Merton Option Pricing model could materially affect compensation expense recorded in future periods.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2 of the Consolidated Financial Statement herein for management’s discussion of recent accounting pronouncements.

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Not applicable

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.

VNUE, Inc.

December 31, 2022

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the shareholders and the board of directors of VNUE, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying balance sheets of VNUE, Inc. as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related statements of operations, stockholders’ equity (deficit), and cash flows for the years then ended, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

Substantial Doubt about the Company’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations and has a significant accumulated deficit. In addition, the Company continues to experience negative cash flows from operations. These factors raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 2. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matter

Critical audit matters are matters arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments.

We determined that there are no critical audit matters.

/S/ BF Borgers CPA PC (PCAOB ID 5041)

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2020

Lakewood, CO

April 14, 2023

VNUE, INC.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

VNUE, INC.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

VNUE, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022 AND 2021