Preserving Live Music Venues
The strategy includes making it easier to open new places and reducing red tape that prevented pop-up venues in areas not traditionally entertainment-oriented. In both cities, exploding property values and spiking rents are squeezing out many businesses. At the same time, fewer young people are going out to hear live music, and those who do are spending less money on drinks, according to Hospitality Daily. With the easy availability of entertainment in the home and on our smartphones, we have less incentive to seek it outside. Like Toronto, city councils in major cities are implementing “agent of change” strategies where the city takes an active role in preserving venues. London’s mayor has also proposed appointing a “night czar.”
As The Guardian explains in a 2015 article, small music venues are incubators and play a vital role in the healthy ecosystem of cities. They provide a pathway for musicians to build experience and a fan base. What happens if we are left with just a handful of cities like Austin where live music thrives? The Internet is great, but it’s impossible to develop performing skills in a vacuum, and difficult cut through the flood of online music to develop fans. Even with the strategies being implemented, the trend looks disastrous in light of changing habits. If musicians lose the availability of both live performance and music sales (which have been declining), music will die on the vine. That will be a sad day for our culture.