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Shopie

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Agent of change
the new law that is being passed in parliament to make sure that we still have small music venues. But gives the regulations if they are in residential areas. as well as this the residents also have to fallow rules so it will be fair for both the residents and the music venues.

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The Music Venue Trust were shown on BBC news to promote there protests and there partition to save small music venues.

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Musician a patron of the MVT tells us why we should protect our local music venues.

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Manchester musician and music journalist. voices his opinions on why we should support our local music venues.

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London mayor Borris Johnson has supported the efforts of The Music Venue Trust. And is voicing his opinions on why we should fight to keep small music venues open.

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Music industry turns out in force to in fight to save venues

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Music industry turns out in force to in fight to save venues

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11/01/18: Music stars joined leading figures from across the industry, MPs and peers in the fight to save music venues across the UK.
The event attracted national headlines from outlets including BBC Breakfast, Radio 5 Live, Radio 1, Sky News, Radio London, Global Radio, The Sun, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Express, NME, Music Week, Billboard, The Herald in Scotland, BBC Radio Essex and many, many more.
Here are just a few pictures of the day we took the fight to Westminster to get Agent for Change enshrined in law to help safeguard thousands of music venues.
We'll post more on our website and our Twitter account in the coming days.
Our huge thanks to everyone who came along and for helping making the day such a fantastic success.
Thanks to the following MPs and peers:
John Spellar MP
Ed Vaizey MP
David Warburton MP
Tom Watson MP
Kevin Brennan MP
Christine Jardine MP
Sir David Amess MP
Sir Greg Knight MP
Anna McMorrin MP
Jo Stevens MP
Jeff Smith MP
Afzal Khan MP
Dr Paul Williams MP
Stephanie Peacock MP
James Frith MP
Luciana Berger MP
Mike Gapes MP
Bambos Charalambous MP
Alex Sobel MP
Luke Pollard MP
Brendan O'Hara MP
Kerry McCarthy MP
Lord Clement-Jones
Lord Watts
Sarah Champion MP
Ian Lucas MP
Lord Maclennan
Baroness Jolly
Lord Foster of Bath
Pete Wishart MP
Gloria de Piero MP
Julie Elliott MP
Lord Kennedy
Conor McGinn MP
Giles Watling MP
Patrick Grady MP
Alison Thewliss MP
Lucy Powell MP
Tonia Antoniazzi MP
Thangam Debbonaire MP
Thanks also to the following artists and people from the industry who also came along:
Nick Mason (Pink Floyd)
Nadine Shah
Jeremy Pritchard (Everything Everything)
Sandie Shaw
J.Willgoose, Esq. (Public Service Broadcasting)
Tom Gray (Gomez)
Feargal Sharkey
Ninja (Go Team)
Iain Archer
Guy Chambers
Billy Bragg
Glen Matlock
Eckoes
Broken Witt Rebels
Annabel Allum
Simon Stark (Mantra)
Howard Jones
Victoria Horn
Rhoda Dakar
Tom Hingley
Mark Davyd (MVT)
Paul Pacifico (AIM)
Gee Davy (AIM)
Cameron Craig (MPG)
Horace Trubridge (MU)
Keith Ames (MU)
Peter Leathem (PPL)
Greg Marshall (AFEM)
Annabella Coldrick (MMF)
Lucie Caswell (FAC)
Scott Walker (PRS for Music)
Olga Fitzroy (MPG)
Gennaro Castaldo (BPI)
Antonia Gilham (MPA)
Aisling Pickett (MPA)
Sarah Clover (Kings Chambers)
Dave Webster (MU)
Lynne McDowell (PPL)
Andrew Ames (PPL)
Sarah Wall (PPL)
Glen Rowe (Cato)
Dave Miles (MPG)
Paul Fenn (Asgard)
Crispin Hunt (BASCA
https://www.ukmusic.org/news/music-industry-turns-out-in-force-to-in-fight-to-save-venues

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Manchester music venue Jilly's Rockworld shuts

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Manchester music venue Jilly's Rockworld shuts

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Two of Manchester's best-known clubs, Jilly's Rockworld and the Music Box, have closed.
Jilly's, which was formerly known as Fagin's, opened in 1970 and saw early performances by Joy Division and Depeche Mode.
The club's owner John Bagnall said financial reasons were behind the closure. "It's very sad. It's heartbreaking," he said.
New Order and Joy Division's Peter Hook said it was a big part of the city.
'Fantastic venue'
Mr Bagnall said: "The numbers are, over the last two or three years, 50% down and we can't pay the bills any longer, the money's run out."
The owner said he thought the 24-hour drinking laws had affected the number of people going to the club, as people no longer left pubs or bars to go on to a live music venue where they needed to pay to get in.
The Oxford Road building housed Jilly's Rockworld upstairs, a 1,300 capacity rock venue, and the Music Box downstairs.
Hook, who co-founded Joy Division, said the Music Box, which used to be called Rafters, was a "fantastic venue" and said: "It's one of the saddest things in the world when these institutions close."
"I always think that corridor in Oxford Road played a great part in giving Manchester its identity and its vibrancy."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/mobile/england/manchester/8619800.stm

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Does peace and quiet always take priority over loud music?

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Does peace and quiet always take priority over loud music?

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By Finlo Rohrer
BBC News Magazine
A row between a world-famous nightclub and property developers highlights a conflict between the right to protection from noise and the right to have a good time.
El Born is one of the trendiest areas in Barcelona. For much of the year, tourists make a beeline for its loft apartments set over narrow streets.
If you book a room in El Born you accept something - that the noise of this vibrant area may, just may, keep you awake at night.
It's a trade-off that some areas of the UK seem to be struggling with.
The Ministry of Sound nightclub is fighting a battle to stop a new residential development being built nearby which, it says, could spell the end for the club after nearly two decades.
The problem is this. If flats are built nearby, residents could complain about the noise from the club. The council would be obliged to investigate and might issue a noise abatement notice. Such a notice could put the club in jeopardy.
The developer Oakmayne says it has offered a litany of measures to eliminate the problem, including paying for soundproofing at the famous club and sealing the windows on the club side of its flats.
But the fear remains that whatever measures were taken the possibility would always exist of a dreaded noise abatement order.
It's a familiar story to those who run the pubs, clubs, bars and gig venues in many of Britain's city centres.
The Point in Cardiff - an abandoned church converted into a venue - closed last year in part due to noise complaints from new residential developments. An established urban music club Imperial Gardens in Camberwell, south London, closed several years ago for the same reasons.
And in Digbeth in Birmingham there has been campaigning to save The Rainbow music venue and the Spotted Dog pub, both of which have been served with noise abatement orders after a block of 180 flats arrived.
Digbeth certainly represents a wider pattern. Pubs, clubs, venues and galleries colonise a former industrial area in the middle of the city that has been plagued by dereliction. As they make the place buzzier so people become interested in living there.
Just one call
But when the residential developments arrive, they bring the possibility of complaints.
The duty of councils is clear, says the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
"Under section 79(1)(g) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local authorities have a duty to take reasonably practicable steps to investigate complaints of 'noise emitted from premises so as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance'"
But there are problems with the law, says Lohan Presencer, chief executive of the Ministry of Sound Group.
"The reality of the situation is that the licensing laws are so unclear and subjective. Once there are a thousand residents, if one person wants to press a complaint - it needn't be about noise - that would be sufficient to be classed as a nuisance... to have our licence revoked and our club shuts."
The issue of one complaint being taken as seriously as a hundred is one that vexes venue owners, says John Tighe, of the Spotted Dog pub in Digbeth.
"Nobody in their right mind would choose to live here unless they liked the music," says Mr Tighe. "[The council believe] they have a statutory duty to react to a single complaint."
The result of the complaints was the end of concerts in the Spotted Dog's beer garden with dire financial consequences.
"They are going to close down Digbeth, the only area of Birmingham where live music is played."
One might think that people moving into a development next to an enormous club might expect noise on a Friday and Saturday night. But there is no exception in the law for longstanding venues in formerly non-residential areas.
On the other hand, not all residents of trendy inner-city developments have chosen to be there.
As well as the "posh penthouses" there is often social housing, says Mary Stevens, of Environmental Protection UK - a group which tries to find an accommodation between the competing interests of residents, business and others.
Need for sleep
Indeed, many councils will only rubber-stamp an application for a block of flats if it includes properties for low-income residents. Those residents are then allocated their premises - rather than opt for them.
And the notion that it only takes one complaint to shut down a nightclub should be treated with caution, she says.
"It's a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to complain that all it takes is one complaint. Local officials have to take a judgement about what is reasonable to the average person," says Ms Stevens.
And even before a block of flats goes up, councils are obliged to take into account the needs of existing businesses when judging planning applications. And noise levels must be tested.
But those behind music venues claim that they often do not go far enough.
Birmingham City Council says it is making every effort to keep Digbeth rocking, albeit quietly.
"We are mindful of the delicate balancing act required in Digbeth in order to both promote the area's thriving entertainment sector, while also protecting a reasonable quality of life for local residents. However, there are many vibrant and creative venues within Digbeth, and at other locations within the city, that operate without causing a noise nuisance. The two things are not mutually exclusive."
But perhaps there is bigger issue at the heart of this - music venues are seen as different to other businesses, particularly because they serve alcohol. To many residents they have a fundamentally undesirable tint to them.
Dominique Czapor runs The Boiler Room in Guildford, Surrey, and also we:LIVE, a support group for those involved in music venues. There was local opposition when she took over.
"They had a 200-strong petition against us before we had even opened. A lot of people have a preconceived idea.
"We are not these pushers of alcohol. For the local community we provide a place for under 18s to go to. We provide that sense of community lost in a lot of chain pubs."
And if venues do get the go-ahead, it is only after they are saddled with paying for measures like soundproofing. It's a cost that can often kill a struggling venue and Ms Czapor would like the onus no longer to be on the venues.
"We are losing some of the best venues we have got in the country due to this problem."
Clues to how to tackle the noise issue may lie in those places that have always had residential and entertainment functions. A raft of little considerations can make life easier, says Fiona Rhys-Jenkins Bailey, chairwoman of the Soho Society, which covers much of London's West End.
"How we square the balance is very delicate. Obviously the businesses have to be able to run but people have to be able to sleep."

Below is a selection of your comments.
I once lived in a flat underneath a family, one of whom played bagpipes. When I watched the same TV programme as them, I could turn off my volume and listen to theirs. Shouting and slamming doors happened continually. Yet they were unaware they were noisy! It all boils down to one thing, selfishness - on which our society runs. Bankers, politicians and the media propagate selfishness and, like my former neighbours, don't even see that they are selfish. This was not so when I was young.
Porridgeeater, Perth, Scotland
It's very sad that these great venues are closing, but they do bring it on themselves in part. Everywhere you go the music is too bloody loud! Even traditional pubs etc. blast it out. I've never been able to understand this, having the volume so high you can't hear anyone talk just isn't what most people want (maybe it's to sell more drinks - if you can't chat to your mates all there is left to do is get so drunk you don't care?). The cost of soundproofing, noise complaints, problems with drunks - all will be reduced if the management just turn the volume down!
Richard, London
Is it not pretty obvious if the club was there first and you buy a flat that is next to the club in full knowledge of that fact then it is reasonable to have to endure the noise associated. If a club tried to open up next to residential places it would probably be turned down. We have lost so many live music venues to redevelopment and restrictions we should not lose anymore.
Franc Lowe, London
The claims by club/pub owners that they will be closed down after one complaint are clearly hyper over-reactions. The law on noise abatement simply doesn't work like this. Unfortunately, many residents in blocks of flats will tell you that it is extremely difficult to get anything done about noisy neighbours because local authorities will simply not act or not act quickly enough. Also, the idea that there should be a 'democratic right' to produce excessive noise is a complete nonsense, for that, after all, is what we are talking about - excessive noise. Without wishing to labour the point, the fact is that we are living in times when excessive noise is an increasing and all-pervasive issue. It is, quite simply, a form of pollution of the environment and should be treated as such.
Gareth L Williams, Cardiff
The trouble with noise complaints is that it is all subjective. What is acceptable to one person is unbearable to another. The type of music being played can also make a difference - if you like it, you're not liable to complain! There are undoubtedly people who are just plain nasty, and will complain about neighbours, pets, traffic, noise, smells - anything because it's how they take out their personal frustrations. But these pubs and clubs should also be aware that they play music too loudly - their clientele should be able to hold a conversation without shouting at someone a foot away from them - the sound should be an accessory to a good night out, not the overwhelming experience. I imagine most complaints don't come from those who initially move in to an area with a club, but from those that buy the flat subsequently, who might be paying more attention to price than the nearby pub. I would not expect a pub to make such a racket that it disturbed the entire street, and clubs can be deceptively bland on the outside.
Jackie, Edinburgh

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/mobile/magazine/8535219.stm

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While London's 02 arena has been named the most popular music venue in the world for the fourth consecutive year, fringe venues up and down the country are being threatened with closure.
The 100 Club on London's Oxford Street has only just been saved, after a high-profile campaign supported by Sir Paul McCartney and Ronnie Wood. But the Luminaire, north of the city, is no more.
In 2009 Leicester's iconic club The Charlotte, which saw early gigs from Oasis and Coldplay, shut its doors.
Manchester has lost Jilly's Rockworld and the Music Box, although other venues have readily taken their place.
So how are other cities faring?
BBC 6 Music took a tour of the UK, speaking to bands, promoters and fans in five different locations to take the pulse of the live music scene.
Glasgow
In the words of Glaswegian band Simple Minds, the city's music scene is alive and kicking. Promoters say it offers a diverse mix of venues, while fans reckon live music is booming.
Stuart Braithwaite, from experimental rock band Mogwai, even says the city exerts a gravitational pull on talent.
"So many artists see Glasgow as a place to listen to and make music that they move there. So a lot of the really good bands are young people that are not even Scottish."
Live events organiser David Weaver agrees that the scene is thriving.
"The amazing thing is just how much people help each other out," he says. "There are so many new bands of all sorts of genres, but the venues are busy for bands that might be playing their first gig.
"Even a place like King Tut's, which has a worldwide reputation, really supports new music. They recently put on two weeks of new bands called the 'New Year Revolution', and it was packed out every night."
Malky B, a music blogger and concert promoter, says Glasgow's size is the key to its success.
"Whereas in most cities the venues are quite spread out, in Glasgow the city and the music are partners together. That brings a unique style to the music that gets produced here," he says.
"There has been a downturn economically, but so far bands and venues have managed to weather that."

Sheffield
"Musically, I don't think it's as healthy as previous times," says John McClure, frontman of indie pop band Reverend and the Makers.
"Around the time of the Arctic Monkeys, Sheffield became trendy for five minutes. Reverend and the Makers and Richard Hawley did well. It's left a bit of a hangover."
Promoter Rupert Dell runs The Leadmill, a legendary club based in a former flour mill that was pivotal to the rise of local bands ABC, Heaven 17 and the Human League. He agrees the scene is in limbo.
It's very difficult to get customers to pay to come and see newer bands. Five years ago we used to be able to do that, no problem."
The Leadmill has managed to stay open, but others have not been so lucky. Over the last year The Boardwalk, The Shakespeare and The Stock Room have all gone dark.
"The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Arctic Monkeys - they all played at the Boardwalk," says McClure. "I think it's very sad that it's going to become a Poundland."
But while treasured venues are struggling, some entrepreneurial music fans are staging free shows.
"It's all in line with the fact that music itself is struggling as a product. With free gigs, the negative is that you can't make as much money from being in a band. But the positive is that more people will come and see you."
Emerging indie band Seize the Chair don't take any money on the door. But they still manage to make ends meet by selling merchandise and taking a share of the bar receipts.
"Sheffield's a really easy place to get gigs," they say. "There's lots of promoters, and everyone's willing to give you a hand."
"What kids want to do is spend no money, listen to amazing music and go somewhere a little bit alternative," adds McClure.    "The party scene is starting to provide that and I think that's where the next wave of good Sheffield music is going to come from."

Belfast
There was panic in Belfast last summer when pub owners CDC Leisure went into administration. Amongst the chain's portfolio was The Limelight, probably Northern Ireland's most iconic music venue.
It was the place where Oasis played the day that Definitely Maybe went to number one, and has also hosted gigs by Blur, The Strokes, Paul Weller and local bands Ash and Snow Patrol.
But the club has survived, thanks to Belfast's all-for-one music scene.
"Belfast is the only place I know where the sound engineer will do as much to promote the night as the band themselves," says BBC Introducing presenter Rory McConnell.
Davy Matchett, from Third Bar artist management, agrees: "If you're in a band, and you need a guitar pedal, there's someone you can phone and they'll give you their guitar, or their pedal, or whatever."
He says Belfast City Council has also recognised the investment potential of local bands succeeding internationally.
"They've been very active in helping both industry people and bands go to things like the South By Southwest festival, to represent Northern Ireland."
Dave Nealy, who runs The Limelight, says Belfast bands also have a unique opportunity to meet their heroes without leaving home.
"We are slightly removed from the rest of the UK, so we have more chance of putting on a local act with a big headliner, because there's a bigger chance that they won't bring a support with them."
Even without the pub and club scene, there are plenty of informal venues around.
"A lot of bands in Belfast start playing in church halls," says Sam Halliday from Top 40 indie band Two Door Cinema Club. "It means a lot of kids can go to see their favourite bands without parental supervision."
The only cloud on the horizon comes in the form of the spending review. Rosa Solanis from Arts Council Northern Ireland says she is "looking at a 23% cut" in the forthcoming budget.
"The impact on music is going to be very negative, especially as our role is in fostering emerging talent, helping artists before they become commercially viable.
"Audiences will lose out too, because the number of gigs will diminish. So we've been campaigning for a fair deal for the arts."

Cardiff
Cardiff boasts the 60,000 capacity Millennium Stadium, which has played host to the likes of Madonna and Sir Paul McCartney. But smaller venues have been less fortunate.
The Point, a venue which hosted gigs by Super Furry Animals and The Bluetones, was forced to close in 2009. Clubs like Ten Feet Tall say they can't book bands who use drums before 2300 because of noise regulations.
Manic Street Preachers frontman James Dean Bradfield mourns the loss of several big clubs in the city.
"When I was a kid I used to go to venues like the New Ocean Club which is no longer there, The Square Club which is no longer there, and a place called Nero's which is no longer there.
"That's three venues off the top of my head, where I saw bands like Waterboys, Spear Of Destiny and Siouxsie and the Banshees - all of which are gone."
Isaac Jones runs a local record label and plays guitar with Among Brothers. He agrees the situation is far from perfect.
"In the back of your mind, there's always a worry that you're going to lose money. What we've found, both with gigs and the record label, is that you need to collaborate to reduce the risk.
"Get a friend's band and ask them to go in on it with you. The more people that are involved, the more people will put effort into promoting it."
Despite his concerns about the commercial side of the business, Jones says that, creatively, bands are thriving.
"It feels as though there is a new band coming out each day. It's good when they start mixing and mingling with other bands, and that's when you get the good shows."
As in Sheffield, new ways of promoting music are springing up to take the place of traditional venues.
"There's more people open to doing small shows," says John Rostron, who runs the SWN Festival. "But, interestingly, it's in spaces that it didn't exist in before."
"It is much easier for small bands to get those first gigs and step ups."

Brighton
Brighton is home to a host of musicians, from Bat For Lashes to Fatboy Slim and The Maccabees. But soundclash dance act The Go! Team say the city's live music scene is "struggling".
"Recently one of the mainstay little venues, the Freebut, closed down because it encountered problems with noise restrictions," says band leader Ian Parton.
"There was a weird spate of closures at that time. The Engine Room was another one."
Parton identifies two problems - a surplus of venues, and Brighton's proximity to the capital.
"Brighton is turning into London-by-Sea, and these little venues are not getting enough money in," he says.
Local promoter Trevor Madison says there are simply too many music nights in the city. "Everyone's trying to get in on the live scene. Promoters have realised that's where the action is at the moment.
"The clever bands are the ones that realise they need to make it work for them, rather than running out and playing every event going," adds Simon Parker, who runs long-standing local band showcase Cable Club.
"After a couple of months, some bands find they've totally exhausted their fanbase."
In contrast to many other cities, Brighton's public officials realise the value of live music. They licence as many as 60 music events and festivals every year, including The Great Escape.
"We are very blessed in the city as there is so much going on," says Donna Close, Arts and Cultural Projects Manager at Brighton and Hove City Council. "Our role is very much about supporting that.
"For example, The Great Escape Festival, when it was first looking for different cities, came to Brighton and we encouraged the organisers to choose us by telling them how great the music scene was here."
The city even attracts foreign talent - such as platinum-selling Australian artist Sarah Blasko, who calls Brighton home when she is in Europe.
"It's a good place to base yourself while you're writing and doing something creative," she says.
"It's not just a strong music scene, there's a proper artistic community. Lots of visual artists and musicians. It always feels like there's something going on."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12505772

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Ringo Starr And Paul McCartney Upset Over The Decline In Live Music Venues 

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Ringo Starr And Paul McCartney Upset Over The Decline In Live Music Venues 

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"I don't understand it, OK, don't get me started," Ringo Starr told BuzzFeed while promoting the new Beatles documentary.
Last week it was announced that iconic London club Fabric is to become the latest music venue in the capital to be shut down permanently.
In fact, over the last few years, London has seen a huge decline in venues across the city.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement following the announcement of Fabric having its licence revoked: "Over the past eight years, London has lost 50% of its nightclubs and 40% of its live music venues. This decline must stop if London is to retain its status as a 24-hour city with a world-class nightlife."
Fabric's licence was revoked after the drug-related deaths of two men this summer. But it's not the only venue to shut its doors over recent times, for example Madame Jojo's, the Astoria and the Buffalo Bar have all shut their doors. And it's also not something just affecting London. Music venues across the whole of the UK have closed or are under threat.
And music icons Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are pretty sad about it.
The Beatles legends spoke to BuzzFeed at the iconic Abbey Road Studios while promoting their new documentary The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years this week. When they were asked about the demise in venues, they expressed their sadness at it continuing to happen and branded it "a pity".
Starr, who started touring with the Beatles in small venues like the Cavern Club in Liverpool back in the 1960s, told BuzzFeed: "There's a lot less places to play, it's just how it is. It's a pity, because new bands need new places, they need a venue to play, and they're getting closed down."
He added: "And the other side of that coin is that well-known bands are giving new bands a break, but they have to pay them to go on stage... I don't understand it, OK, don't get me started! I mean, yeah, give us a break."
McCartney added: "Can you believe that? You have to pay to support some of the big bands."
Starr concluded: "Anyway, about the venues, what can we do? You know, they're closing down."
https://www.buzzfeed.com/kimberleydadds/ringo-starr-and-paul-mccartney-upset-over-the-decline-in-liv?utm_term=.blJxzMy7z#.ekPP81Gx8

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 The slow death of music venues in cities 

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 The slow death of music venues in cities 

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Small music clubs aren’t just incubators for bands – they play a vital role in a healthy urban ecosystem. What will happen if they all get turned into flats?

Many believe the police had it in for the Arches for a long time. Named after the warren of arches it occupied under Glasgow’s Central Station, the venue – which opened during Glasgow’s European city of culture year in 1990 – had hosted Daft Punk’s first UK tour in 1997, the still-talked-about Scottish debut of 2manyDJs, and icons of Scottish indie music, including the Jesus and Mary Chain, Cocteau Twins and Belle and Sebastian.
In early 2014 17-year-old Regane MacColl from Clydebank died at a club night in the venue. There was little argument that the club’s policies and procedures should be reviewed, but what was asked of them was a stranglehold: more security; more searches; reporting of the smallest drug finds; an astonishingly unworkable request to create “periods of calm” in which they stop the music and put the lights up.

Aside from the “periods of calm”, the Arches complied dutifully with the new demands. Eventually the collated data of those drug finds was used to revoke the venue’s late licence, effectively closing not just the concerts and club nights, but the highly regarded live arts programme as well as a new theatre arm, both of which relied on the music for most of “The night-time industries are treated as a poor second cousin. They’re under constant scrutiny in a way that other cultural activities aren’t,” Gieben says. “It’s hard for bands to progress and get bigger in a city unless there is a spread of mid-level venues, and now the option of a venue the size of the Arches has gone from Glasgow.”heir income.
The Arches isn’t alone: the Roadhouse in Manchester, the Point and the Barfly in Cardiff, the Picture House in Edinburgh, the Astoria, the Buffalo Bar and Madame Jojo’s in London – all venues that have been lost; many the victims of tough licensing laws, unwelcoming neighbours, aggressive development and an increase in property values.
Mark Davyd co-owns the Tunbridge Wells Forum (capacity 250) and heads the Music Venue Trust, an industry body aimed at preserving grassroots venues, which he defines as anywhere with a capacity under 750.
“The live music industry’s thriving,” Davyd says, “but the smallest venues are falling off the chart. What we’re left with are these megashows with very high ticket prices, which buoy up the headline figure. Will two more new shows at the O2 in London feel the same as 250 shows at a small venue?”
Each city is unique, but while London’s music scene is partly regrouping away from the centre – Hackney thriving while Soho fades – the headline figure is one of decline. Of the 430 music venues that traded in London between 2007 and 2015, only 245 are still open, according to the trust. National figures are currently unknown, but Davyd says he’s been contacted by more than 60 troubled venues in the last year.
“It often starts from a relatively benign decision,” he says. “The Troubadour in London is up for sale because they had a noise complaint related to their use of the garden. Kensington and Chelsea borough said they couldn’t use it after 9pm, their drink turnover went down substantially, and now there’s no guarantee it’ll be a venue in future.
“Someone wants to build next to the Fleece in Bristol,” he continues. “Bristol city council have fought hard for them, but they don’t have any support in law and flats are going to be built 20 metres from the main stage. In the next couple of years there will be noise complaints that will cost the Fleece £12,000 to £15,000 to handle, and it’s not making that in profit. The Point in Cardiff: they installed £68,000 worth of acoustic baffling to stop the complaints from a new development, and servicing the loan put them out of business. These little things just build up.”
Sometimes venue landlords take hard-to-refuse offers for their premises. In Edinburgh, for example, the Picture House was bought by JD Wetherspoon, and the Venue sold for studio and art gallery space. “You can’t blame people for selling up,” says Davyd. “The valuation of the [Tunbridge Wells] Forum as a music venue is about £375,000. If we sell it to be flats, it’s worth about £1.2m. ”
Questions are finally being asked, however, about the part that music venues play in the ecosystem of a city. In May 2015 the first Music Cities Conference was held at the Great Escape festival in Brighton; another is scheduled for October in Washington DC.
“It’s not the music industry we’re catering to, it’s everyone else,” says Shain Shapiro of the Sound Diplomacy music consultancy, which organised the event. “Other than about 10 to 12 examples around the world, there aren’t any music strategies in cities, so we have to think about the entire urban ecology. How can music be used as a tool for housing policy, for education, for transport policy?

“Having a healthy music heritage and system makes cities look good,” he adds. “It increases tourism. It increases city branding. It makes young people want to stay. If you have a healthy venue, you’re going to have restaurants, minicab firms and bars. It enhances diversity – it doesn’t matter where you’re from or what sexual orientation you are, music is a communicator.
“And speaking of new developments, if there isn’t a creative offering nearby, why would anyone want to live in them?”
Although developers are often responsible for the changes in a city that end up killing mid-range music venues, Shapiro is keen the music industry not demonise them. “A lot of developers are actually doing good work; they’re not the enemy. They’re just playing within the rules, and the rules are wrong,” he says. “You can’t just go around saying that developers are shit. You’re not gonna get anywhere. We want them to engage.”
Some cities do have robust music policies that are widely praised: Austin in Texas (home of South By Southwest), Chicago, Adelaide and Melbourne in Australia, various Canadian cities. Many countries in continental Europe subsidise music venues, making a dedicated urban strategy less necessary; but eastern European cities and many UK ones are less forward-thinking. “Mindset is a huge challenge,” says Shapiro. “There are some city councils that don’t see it as a priority, and that’s completely understandable when they don’t have money to provide social care.”
The solution doesn’t necessarily require more money from taxpayers. Instead, Davyd hopes for relaxed regulations, increased statutory protections and reduced business rates (in line with traditional arts venues). “We should stop calling them ‘toilet venues’ and recognise them as innovation hubs and incubation spaces,” Shapiro says. “If you have 25 bands coming through a venue in a month, what you’re actually doing is incubating 25 businesses. Then one of them has a hit song, and that’s an important piece of British IP that’s been beta-tested in these places.”

Many say introducing the “agent of change” principle – whereby new housing developments have to adapt to existing businesses in the area, such as paying for soundproofing (in either the development or the venue) – would help. First coined in Melbourne a decade ago, agent of change was introduced across the state of Victoria following the 20,000-strong Slam (Save Live Australian Music) rally in 2010, protesting the closure of the much-loved Tote. In a city with 470 live music venues and annual attendances of 14.4 million, legislators realised they were alienating a large constituency by sticking to a hard line. “You need strong political will to introduce agent of change,” says Patrick Donovan of industry body Music Victoria. “We had it … and certainly a pressing election didn’t hurt.”
Indeed, Melbourne is in many ways an ideal music city. Live venues get special status under the Liquor Act; grants are available at all levels for artists and venues; the Music Futures fund committed $2m to music education in primary schools.
London is a different story. In gentrifying Soho the area’s reputation as a live music hub has collapsed, with only six venues remaining from a peak of 17, while Hackney borough council’s recent plans to curtail post-midnight licences have caused consternation. “The only significant cultural space considered allowable to close for the Crossrail development was the Astoria,” says Davyd. “If it was the Royal Opera House there’s no way they would have got away with it.”
http://musicvenuetrust.com/2015/09/the-slow-death-of-music-venues-in-cities/

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Agent of Change Campaign: email your local MP and Government Ministers to protect music venues

Alarmingly, around 35% of music venues across the country have closed in the past decade. Music venues play a vital role in supporting the industry’s ecosystem and ensuring a healthy music industry. They also play a key role in nurturing the talent of tomorrow.

A growth in demand for property in city and town centres has led to increasing rents and landlords deciding to sell property and land to developers. This has placed rising financial burdens on pre-existing operators of grassroots music venues, who are often situated in areas that are popular for redevelopment. It has made them vulnerable to a more liberalised planning system.

Former Government minister John Spellar MP is promoting new legislation in Parliament to protect music venues in the wake of this. The Planning (Agent of Change) Bill would place the agent of change principle to planning law on a statutory basis. “Agent of Change” means those bringing about a change take responsibility for its impact. The Bill has political momentum and has secured cross-party support. There is a very real prospect of that this proposal could become law, providing much-needed support to music venues in the process.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has committed to the principle in his London Plan. The Welsh Government are delivering on it. The Scottish Government are also looking into it. It is time for the UK Government to get behind the Bill and back the Planning (Agent of Change) Bill.

www.ukmusic.org/policy/agent-of-change/

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are an activist group in Britain trying to save small music venues.  they have created partitions and have protested in London.
they have several celebrity patrons including Sir Paul McCartney
Elbow
Frank Turner
Enter Shikari
John Robb
The charity also has several politicians backing there movement such as
Kerry McCarthy MP (Labour)
Lord Tim Clement -Jones (Lib Dem)
Nigel Adams MP (Conservative)
Patrick Grady MP ( Scottish National Party)

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'Small music venues are places of activism and good for the community they belong in too'

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'Small music venues are places of activism and good for the community they belong in too'

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It’s estimated that over the past ten years, a huge 40 per cent of London’s music venues have closed, reflecting similar patterns around the UK. Casualties include the Cockpit in Leeds which closed its doors in 2014, and the Sheffield Boardwalk. Other well-known small venues, like the 100 Club and the Tunbridge Wells Forum, are also thought to be at risk, alongside more grassroots level clubs such as The Owl sanctuary
The reason for these closures is multifaceted; a combination of soaring rent prices, disproportionately tough licensing scrutiny (such as in the case of Soho’s Madame Jojo’s), and greedy property developers with no regard for the cultural value of the institutions their developments are destroying..

But, somehow, we need to counteract this. Small venues are the lifeblood of the British music scene. Currently valued at £3.5 billion, the music industry in the UK really is based on the small gig venue circuit. Without these venues, new acts have no platform to perfect their craft, to build up fan bases, and to eventually fill the same shoes of some of the biggest names around today. The live music industry is thriving overall at the moment - but it just isn’t sustainable.

Millions are made off huge shows at places like the O2 Arena, but if grassroots venues aren’t preserved, in some 30 years’ time, there won’t be any acts to play these big gigs. Or the small ones. In fact, without small venues, it’s difficult to envisage a sustained and successful future for British music at all. In 1976, The Clash played their debut gig supporting the Sex Pistols at the pub that would go on to become the Sheffield Boardwalk. Years later, they’re considered to be one of the most influential bands to have existed. Without small music venues, how can we expect any new - and great - music to come out of the UK?
It isn’t just about the artists, either. These venues provide jobs for hundreds of thousands of people, from bar staff to promoters and technicians. To snatch away the livelihoods of so many for the benefit of some bourgeois group of property developers is a disgrace at a time when unemployment and poverty levels are so high. In fact, spaces for live music and culture can be great community adhesives in times of socioeconomic hardship.

Small venues are often about more than just music, too. They can be places of activism and good for the community they belong in. The Owl Sanctuary is home to the Norwich Soup Movement, a DIY non-profit soup kitchen providing food and support for Norwich’s homeless people, and there are patterns of this all over the country. Smaller DIY venues have a soul, a conscience, and a sense of moral duty which corporate ones lack. The redevelopment of music venues is part of a wider system of gentrification and it doesn’t only affect music fans and pub-goers. It takes away hundreds of jobs at a time, displaces charitable organisations, and brings down what is - for many - the cornerstone of their communities.
http://www.independent.co.uk/student/istudents/small-music-venues-in-the-uk-are-under-threat-and-we-need-to-do-something-drastic-about-it-a6825456.html

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Sir Paul McCartney and a host of rock and pop legends are backing a move in Parliament to protect music venues from closure.

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Sir Paul McCartney and a host of rock and pop legends are backing a move in Parliament to protect music venues from closure.

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The former Beatle is joined by Brian Eno, Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, The Kinks’ Ray Davies and an array of politicians and campaigners in backing a plan to stop the closure of grassroots venues after more than a third were said to have closed in the past decade, according to research by UK Music.
A number of stars are to gather outside the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday morning as parliament prepares to discuss introducing the Agent of Change principle into law, which could offer a legal lifeline to live performers.
Chief executive of UK Music and former Labour MP Michael Dugher said the cross-party backed Bill was an “SOS to ministers to act and act urgently”, in an interview with the Press Association.

He said the next Ed Sheeran may struggle to succeed in the future as they cannot hone their craft in small venues.
For example, they could be forced to fund extra soundproofing for the venue to avoid the risk of new residents complaining.

Other stars lending their support include Craig David, Nadine Shah, Chrissie Hynde and Billy Bragg.

Among the venues that have had to fight the threat of closure are London’s Ministry Of Sound and the 100 Club while Bristol’s barge-based venue, Thekla, is among others in danger.

Campaigners are also battling to protect the Womanby Street music quarter in Cardiff from developers while last year The Square in Harlow, which hosted Coldplay, Blur, Supergrass and Muse when they were starting out, closed as a result of a planning dispute.

Sir Paul said: “Without the grassroots clubs, pubs and music venues my career could have been very different. If we don’t support music at this level, then the future of music in general is in danger.”

Hynde said the “whole world will suffer” if the venues are not kept open.

“It isn’t talent shows on television or theatre schools that propagate great music, it’s small venues,” she said.

“They’re the setting of everything great that’s come out of the music scene in this country, from the Beatles to Oasis and beyond.

“England has long led the world of popular music; the rest of the world follow England. If small venues shut down, so will England’s unique creative output. It will be like locking up playgrounds at schools.

“The whole world will suffer, not just England,” she added.

Mr Dugher said Britain’s status as a hub of musical talent was threatened by the closures.

It’s tomorrow’s Adeles, tomorrow’s Ed Sheerans, tomorrow’s stars… All of the biggest names in music, all started somewhere. They were all given a stage somewhere and we’re in danger of taking that stage away from them.

“The huge global success we enjoy at the moment is being put in jeopardy unless we do something about protecting music venues.”

The Agent of Change is currently included in planning guidance but can be ignored as it is not compulsory in England, Scotland or Wales.

At the end of last year, London Mayor Sadiq Khan added the principle to his draft London Plan while the Welsh government has pledged to introduce it in future planning policy.

Labour MP John Spellar will table the Agent of Change Bill on Wednesday and is expected to receive support from his frontbench colleagues as well as a number of Lib Dem, SNP and Tory MPs.

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Sir Paul McCartney among musicians lobbying for change in law to save venues

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He warned the future of music was in danger.