Live DMA conducts its own research to support and strengthen the live music sector in Europe. On this page, you can explore our in-house publications. To ensure a high standard of evidence-based action, we employ an internal research officer and collaborate with a freelance data manager. We also train our members to develop their own data collection capacity and we build strong relationships with academic institutions in the field of popular music studies. This research activity is a key pillar of our network’s legitimacy and impact, grounding our advocacy in real-world data and shared knowledge.
STUDY – CHALLENGES OF LIVE MUSIC VENUES IN EU CITIES
PUBLICATION 2025
The study commissioned by Live DMA in 2024 highlights the pressing challenges faced by small and medium-sized live music venues in European cities. These venues play a vital role in supporting cultural diversity, fostering emerging talent, and strengthening local communities. However, they are increasingly threatened by gentrification, economic instability, shifting audience behavior, and inadequate public support. Drawing on insights from 16 venues and stakeholders across Europe, the study outlines the complex pressures reshaping the live music landscape and explores potential strategies for adaptation.
CHALLENGES PER TOPIC
Literature review – gender equality in live music
PUBLICATION 2025
This literature review, written by the researcher Grace Goodwin, explore themes around gender and live music such as festival line ups, gendered employment in the live sector, sexualised violence in live music spaces and the challenges of establishing an effective methodology for gender data collection. The review concludes by considering some of the solutions implemented to tackle gender inequality in the live music sector.
THE SURVEY – FACTS & FIGURES OF THE LIVE MUSIC SECTOR
PUBLICATION 2025
Data 2019-2022. This new report shows that rising costs are challenging for live music venues and clubs across Europe. A major concern is that venues, especially private ones, are being forced to cut back on innovative and diverse programming to survive financially. Emerging artists, niche genres, and risk-taking performances are often sacrificed in favor of more commercially viable acts, reducing the sector’s cultural diversity.
PREVIOUS PUBLICATIONS
ANALYSIS – VOLUNTEERING FOR POPULAR MUSIC
PUBLICATION 2024
This resource provides a condensed overview of research on volunteering in the live music sector, highlighting different cultural approaches, motivations, benefits, and risks. It also includes a panorama of legal definitions of volunteering in different European countries. Dive into the role of a volunteer, the advantage of this position, but also the risks linked to volunteering in the live music sector.
STUDY – EXPLORING BOOKING PRACTICES IN EUROPE
PUBLICATION 2024
Released in early 2024, this study aims to talk about the realities of the peculiar position of being a music booker, by giving an overview of who the bookers are and highlight the main challenges of music programming. The idea was also to identify the main partners of a booker to allow more transparency within these operators and eventually pave the way for more social and artistic diversity. This research is a first step, aiming at fostering dialogue and exchange between peers and professionals of the live music sector, and reflect on the future of our European live music venues!
YOUR FEEDBACK MATTERS!
We would now like to build the future endeavours of this research with you! This place is for you to share your feedback, insights, hopes, wishes, needs, ideas, plans… with us, regarding booking practices. What did you think of the study? What would be an interesting follow-up? What would be useful to you?
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LIVE DMA INVENTORY
Live DMA inventory is a useful tool that helps mapping the European live music sector. It shows the representation of the network with two main data: the number of venues, clubs and festivals per countries & their legal status.
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LIVE DMA MEMBERS’ REGIONAL STATISTICS
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