New Models In Music Venue Ownership

The ALMBC welcomes the recent  Conversation article by the esteemed researchers Sam Whiting (RMIT) and Megan Sharp (Uni of Melbourne) unpacking the opportunities of new models of live music venues ownership, including not-for-profit ownership.

We agree 100% with everything the article articulates – anyone interested in live music in Australia was excited by the powerful way the band Amyl & The Sniffers responded to the recent Federation Square forced cancellation.

However there were one or two glaring omissions in the Whiting & Sharp article that deserve to be unpacked.

We agree that existing models of live music venue income stream development, underpinned by alcohol sales as the main income, need to go in the bin and be replaced by models that value culture, great music and great live performances.

The transition away from alcohol as the main income driver is underway, but is proving a long and difficult process, with many business and venues casualties along the way, as outlined in the article.

But let’s compare live music to visual art for a moment. It is a fact that governments own the vast majority of the infrastructure utilised to build and showcase Australian visual art. Visual art, as it stands today, simply would be close to non-existent without that major financial contribution to the instruments of building and showcasing art – all our state and national galleries, the complex web of local government-owned galleries, etc. That’s a great thing and need to be supported and encouraged.

However, when we compare live music – the grass roots scene is built on small businesses renting (often poorly kept) buildings, in the cheaper parts of cities. It is small businesses that undertake the greatest burden in keeping our live music scene alive.

Higher-end performing arts spaces are owned and operated by governments (mostly local governments), however these are not spaces in which our grass roots live music scene is supported and developed – it is in the small, often dirty pubs and clubs scattered across the continent where the magic that is our live music industry is developed and showcased.

Government financial support for grass roots live music is always welcome, however it is often piecemeal and sometimes misdirected and we know that most businesses running live music are small, with very tight financial margins and often running way too close to the bone.

Because of these very tight finances, it has been too easy for venues to simply close, taking with them often many years of cultural experience and value. It has also been way too easy for globally-owned businesses to move into the market and take ownership of key grass roots venues that the ALMBC believes, could and should have remained independently owned and managed. Global ownership has provided financial certainty to many venues, however we believe that the well-documented drawbacks of global ownership, are worth keeping in mind. We certainly place the maintenance of an independently owned community of venues and businesses as a very high priority.

Whiting & Sharp showcase something exciting that is happening in the space – the rise of not-for-profit venue ownership and / or management. This is a great opportunity and one that is already being undertaken either in part or fully, by a number of venues across the continent, eg the Elixir Music House in Cairns, Lazy Thinking in Sydney (as mentioned in the article), for example. There are many benefits of this model, and indeed many venues would be better off undertaking this process, however there are also some downsides. Just one of these is having to have a group of people act as a board of management. In the worst case scenario, a venue manager who has set up this management board, could end up being removed by the board – because they have the ultimate authority. Given our human capacity for drama and power-plays, this could be a major concern.

Another downside may be the ability of venue managers and bookers to take big risks or be agile in the market, as they are acting under the authority of a Board, rather than on their own wits.

The ALMBC believes that innovative and agile small business should not have to undertake a not-for-profit structure as the only option to ensure survival. These businesses are struggling and are close to the bone, but should, we believe, be encouraged and supported to remain in business if possible.

There is a well-established social enterprise model that is understood and supported on a global level, where a profit making business provides a very clear and strong community benefit, and this is where we believe our energy should be focussed.

Grass roots live music venues are undoubtably providing an excellent community service – these spaces are where emerging artists and industry workers get to cut their teeth and learn the ropes. They provide the heart and soul of the live music industry and always have. This needs to be better understood by governments of all levels.

Of course, our small pubs and live music venues have never been perfect. Because alcohol is so implicitly linked, there are many social dangers in place and as an industry body, the ALMBC is working to support venues in embedding physical, emotional and cultural safety as non-negotiable bottom lines. The journey is real and the ALMBC is supporting the industry as a whole to stay on the journey.

Unlike visual arts, the answer is not government ownership of grass roots live music venues to ensure their survival. But nor is it to move every venue into the not-for-profit space.

We believe very strongly that if governments of all levels backed grass roots live music venues as social enterprises and provided funding to support the excellent community benefits they provide, then this will go a long way to underpinning the bottom line of most music venues, provide certainty and support to a struggling industry and maintain and build the excellent community outcomes already being delivered.

The ALMBC has been championing grass roots live music scene since its inception and will continue to do so.