The importance of live music to culture

The constant closure of venues that have housed many gigs important to local popular music history is indicative of how local governments and councils choose to honour their musical heritage. In recent times musical revolution has gone hand in hand with most cultural revolution, from the association of punk music with the political unrest and vast unemployment of 70’s Britain to the use of hip hop by black America to create a public and accessible voice. These musical trends have not only accompanied these social changes, but have often provided catalysts for political transformation, such as the protest songs of the early 1960’s becoming a rallying call for the civil rights movements. By ignoring these elements of popular music and the relevance it has to modern history, the true impact it has had will be forgotten.
Live music also acts as an important part of most social circles, especially the younger sections of western society. As many teenage groups identify themselves by their taste in music, the associated live gigs provide an important means for like-minded people to interact in a relatively safe environment. Many community activists also regard music as a positive and easily attainable way to keep teenagers from more harmful aspects of youth culture, such as crime and drug abuse.
The other major importance of live music is the boost it provides to the economy. Not only to the performers that rely on this as their main source of income (as mentioned before, vastly more profitable to an artist than record sales), but many of the large scale shows have an entire industry that relies heavily on the revenue that live performances can produce.

The importance of music to culture is at its most evident when it is taken away.
The expulsion of Jewish music from German culture during the Nazi reign over Germany is a good example of how removal of music can be used as an instrument of oppression, as it took away a major economic and communicative tool for the Jewish community that was a strong part of Jewish tradition.
Another example can be seen in colonisation of Australia. As the colonists began to arrive in Australia, they brought their songs, which were quickly adopted by the aboriginal community. The indoctrination of western music in aboriginal culture meant that they began to loose their traditional songs, which where of great importance as they were often used as a means of story telling to pass on important information. This loss of song-based story telling was further removed from the culture as the westerners increasingly exploited Australia and its native peoples .

Technology has had a massive effect on the indigenous music in certain cultures. Gamelan music of Indonesia was based on relatively small area’s having their own set of gamelan instruments tuned to their own standards of tuning. Each village had its own musical culture and style of playing which had developed through oral tradition. When the audiocassette tape was introduced to Indonesia it meant that for the first time each gamelan performer could record and distribute their particular style of gamelan. This meant that other gamelan performers could then incorporate aspects of other gamelan styles into their own music, which slowly created a more homogenised version over a large area (Katz 2004). A similar thing has happened in the UK, were once individual towns and cities would have had their own songs and musical culture, as industrialisation prospered these various folk traditions eventually blended into one another.

The live music legislations and destruction of venues mentioned earlier could be seen as a means to oppress certain aspects of British culture. The media fuelled fear of youth culture seems to encourage certain types of music to be targeted as detrimental to society .
The venues and other musical establishments related to pop culture still have to achieve a massive level of popularity (akin to that obtained by The Beatles) to gain any sort of protection or notoriety from councils. This would deny the chance to enrich any area’s modern history, which would be considered important to many local people.
With most music now having an online audience and more people having access to the internet than ever, local musical cultures may disappear to be replaced by a global equivalent, where musical styles won’t be created in different cities or countries but on various websites and online cultures. This is already happened with genres such as 8-Bit, which have a much stronger online community than an analogue equivalent.

Weather Britain is or isn’t losing its live music culture is open to debate, but the vulnerability of live music is definitely an important issue on many levels. While gigs and bands seem to be good stead when it comes to amount available, the loss of many long established and potential venues will eventually have a major effect on the amount of gigs that can happen in any given town. This along with the recent laws will place further stress on the music community. In spite of all these new restrictions, musicians with even a moderate level of passion while find a way to perform. Even the most restrictive countries with little to no resources often have a rich live music, often linked with local and religious tradition. Given this, live music will nearly always find a way but could be of a great benefit to communities if given the respect, attention and protection it deserves.

The Effect of Technology on Live Music


As the consumer desire for technology grows, it is putting increasing pressure on many of the traditional ways of life. The way we communicate, gather information, shop and entertain our selves have changed dramatically in an incredibly short span of time. To expect it to have no effect on live music would be short sighted and dangerous to the well being of music as a culture.


"We need to accept that we're already in the digital era. You can't just wish it hadn't happened and hope the world doesn't change.” Kate Nash

While this quote may be referring to the sale of music online, it also holds true for the live music industry. Without taking note of the changes that technology is having on both industrial and social worlds would be harmful to live music than to embrace it.

The need for gigs and club nights for people to socialise seems to diminishing in the wake of Internet social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Even devoted music fans have specialised means of interacting on the Internet, with websites such last.fm and MOG.com, offering people the chance to discover new music without having to leave their homes. Where once people would discover new bands through going to gigs and interacting with their social peers, this has now been replaced with an online equivalent of the experience. This also means that a music culture is being created where people may be less willing to see a band perform live that they are unfamiliar with.

While certain negative effects are often the main focus when discussing technology in association with music, further advancements frequently offer more positives. With cheaper and more effective advertising for small bands to communicate with their fans (with music hosting sites, such as MySpace alongside industry based promotional sites like Sonicbids.com and video sites such as YouTube) and the potential for instant global release of any music digitally recorded, modern advances could be a potential saviour of live music, along with the music industry as a whole. As with venues, the bands that embrace current technology will have an improved chance of success compared to their devotedly analogue brethren.

Where the embracement of technology is proving to be a legitimate and successful means of business are Silent Discos. By using wireless headphones to transmit the music (mainly DJ’s, but logistical there is no reason it couldn’t be applied to a live band) as opposed to a large speaker set-up, it allows live shows to go ahead in venues that would potentially have noise pollution issues. Although it’s considered a rather gimmicky way around certain problems that plague live music, it could prove to be a very useful commodity.

A similar use of technology to offer a new way to experience live music is by selling tickets to gigs that can then be watched via live streaming on a website . Similar schemes have been tried in the past with pay per view televised concerts on satellite channels, but failed to capture the same market that pay per view sports events garner. The most logical reasoning behind this is that audiences are after more than just live music, but are also after the accompanying experiences that only a live gig can deliver.

Technology has been of great importance to musical cultures, often allowing those who previously had limited access to music new, more accessible mediums. As cassette tapes began to arrive in India, it allowed people to access various forms of music which were previously unavailable due to the control of the governments record label, the GCI (Gramophone Company of India), the only records commonly available where the standardised love songs performed by approved artists. This vanished as the cassette tapes meant that small labels and individuals could now record and produce their own music . This shows how technology can be revolutionary to how people obtain music and how music is created.

Chapter 1 - The State of Live Music

Is Live Music Dying

In recent times, the state of live music as an important cultural and financial industry has come into question. The commoditisation and consumption of music is consumed on a personal level is in a similar phase of change, with the advancements in technology forcing the industry to take stock of its previously strong methods of practice. Is live music going through a similar phase of change and what factors will have the most effect?

Where have all the venues gone?

With the current trend for the destruction of classic performance venues, live music is in a state of upheaval. Spaces that have been long regarded as iconic on the musical map and important to the musical heritage of many cities are being manoeuvred towards closure in the current climate of economic recession and the redevelopment of city centres. London’s Astoria and Hammersmith Palais along with The Duchess of York in Leeds have both closed despite the amount of modern history that exudes from these and similar venues across the country. The Hammersmith Palais in particular had strong worldwide recognition with The Clash song ‘(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais’. These closures exemplify the treatment of how popular music venues are treated by local councils and governments. The value of city centre properties has been a major influence on the validity of city centre venues. Due to the fact that many of the locations which are ideal for music venues are also places which attract high property prices, with aspects such as transport hubs making for desirable locations and being particularly large buildings, venues in this prime locations are often worth more as apartments or shopping centres . The Duchess of York in Leeds is an example, with its owners selling the building to become a Hugo Boss Shoe Shop; despite the history the venue had for breaking internationally acclaimed bands such as Nirvana, Oasis and The Fall. The real-estate value of these properties also means that most potential buyers will be from large chains, and less interested in making small live music venues. These high property prices also prevent new venues from opening in what would be the most profitable locations.

The pressure on pubs is major factor into the state of live music. As the cost of running a pub grows alongside competition with supermarket chains who can easily undercut most pub prices, these are dire times for many independent pubs. As of early 2009, pub closures have risen to 39 a week, increasing dramatically from 2005 where 3 pubs might close a week . Similar trends are also happening to working men’s clubs, with 75% predicted to be closed in the next decade . As taxes continue to increase on alcohol sales and the brewers cost rise, the profit margins for landlords inevitably shrink. These types of venues are essential to local music communities as they provide a necessary stepping-stone allowing many bands their first opportunity to play in front of a live audience. They also provide the main source of income for many professional musicians, such as tribute acts and cover bands. As the number of pubs diminishes the potential revenue for musicians also shrinks, and given that the average income per annum for a musician is around £8,000, any loss of venues could have a huge impact on the well being of performers .

With the greatest number of pubs closing in rural settings (despite schemes launched by CAMRA and The Pub Is the Hub), this creates a vacuum of live music in many countryside areas . With the combination of city centres losing venues and rural settings losing pubs, where are live bands playing? The suburbs offer a small relief, where family based pubs can still bring in enough money to occasionally support live acts, but due to the nature of venues the variety of music these venues will showcase is limited.

What is bound to have an effect on the pubs which will provide space for live music is the increase of chain branded pubs, such as J.D. Wetherspoons, who seem to have a blanket policy on no live music, based on an unwillingness to procure a live music license and a belief that it isn’t what their clientele . Given that Wetherspoons have more than 700 pubs, with many replacing long established pubs; this would have a massive effect on the amount of potential venues for live acts. Some chain brands (such as Barracuda) may occasionally offer space to live acts, but this seems to be a rarity amongst the chain pubs. The most common form of live entertainment in these establishments seems to be the occasional DJ playing dance and pop standards to cater to the busy Friday and Saturday crowds.

The introduction of the smoking ban is also blamed for a decrease in pub trading, yet evidence for this is scant at best, with most reports of decreasing business being based on anecdotal evidence. The introduction of the smoking ban has certainly had some effect on pub trading, but with some pubs reporting increase in both drink and food sales. For the pubs that do face a tough time with the smoking ban, making space for live music could prove to be an achievable way to improve business. The pubs that are doing best in the face of constant change are the pubs that are willing to change themselves. Food, live music and entertainment seem make the difference between successful and ineffective pubs. This is most evident in a survey of the various pubs of Plymouth , where the bans least affected by legislation are the ones that are aware of the need to bring new ideas into their businesses. There is also evidence indicating that the use of live music can provide a significant financial boom to pubs. The level of profit can be quite remarkable compared to regular night without live music:

‘Reynolds, for his part, has no doubt about the financial contribution from live music. "We aim for a three-fold return," he says. "If we pay £250 for a band, we expect to take in £750."

A recent Internet campaign was launched to stop legislation coming into place that would force venues to install sound limiters in all music venues. With an e-petition gathering more 85,000 signatures, the government posted a response to the petition on their website:

‘We are pleased to tell you that there is no truth in claims that the Government is planning to introduce a requirement for entertainment venues to fit noise control devices.’

While this may have made the petition pointless, it does demonstrate the passion that large numbers of people have for live music.

Different legislations have begun to affect live music though. The licensing act of 2004 is often cited as having a huge detrimental effect of the live music scene, although according to a survey done on the issue:

‘The Licensing Act does not appear to have been a major factor in decisions relating to whether or not venues provided live music with very few of these venues cited the Act as a factor in these decisions.’

But also stated in the report is:

‘The findings show that there has been a five percentage point decrease in the provision of live music in secondary live music venues in England and Wales since the baseline survey was conducted in 2004 (from 47 per cent in 2004 to 42 per cent in 2007).’

But this is apparently due to reduction in venues such as cafes, restaurants and church halls as opposed the more traditional venue such as a pub or club. This evidence could be proof of people feeling differently about how they wish to enjoy live music, with a traditional performer/audience format being more popular than listening to music while eating.

Yet another piece of legislation which has been put into affect within London is the need for venue owners to complete form 696 10 days before the gig, which asks for information such music genre and expected ethnicity of a crowd for any gig along with the names and addresses of all performers. After a campaign against the form took place, an abridged version of the form took its place, replacing the ethnicity question with a less suspicious ‘target audience’ substitute. These various forms of control over live music from the government could be seen as an almost Orwellian effort to control the supposed ‘trouble making’ elements of music. The original ethnicity question in the 696 form seems designed primarily to find black dominated genres of music, which many still immediately associate with gang culture. The repercussions of these actions could lead to silencing a music subculture that provides a voice for a section of society that has no traditional platform to express itself, being poorly represented in most medias.

Whether the economic recession will have an effect on live music is hard to predict, but it will obviously have a certain impact on the venues that cater for live music, be it with venues closing down or small businesses doing better as the larger chains struggle. Doom and gloom isn’t a certainty at all, with entertainments still performing well in the wake of economic downfall, with theatres actually showing an increase in profits for 2008 . It may also effect how people spend their money. People may be more willing to spend money on going to smaller venues to see a local band for a night out as opposed to large scale or stadium venues to see a touring or international act due to their reduced budgets. The economic recession could also help create healthier local music scenes, with people putting more stock in their local bands as the ability to see big name bands and attend large festivals diminishes.

While the state of live music is debatable for small to medium acts, it still remains a massive source of income for the acts with the financial backing to launch stadium tours. In spite of relatively low album sales, Madonna topped a poll of highest earning musicians of 2008, due largely to her sell out tour (Waddell 2009). Also making up the top 5 earners were Bon Jovi, The Police, Bruce Springsteen and Celine Dion, with none releasing an album in 2008, and earnings coming mainly from large venues. This shows that there is still a large demand for live music, with money to be made from it, even if it doesn’t give much hope for the musicians who play small venues. The major festivals also prove that there is still taste for live music, with most selling out within days of the tickets going on sale, although maybe not to same level as previous years (this could be yet another effect of the economic recession).