OBSERVATION & RESEARCH

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

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

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.

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

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?

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.

LIVE DMA MEMBERREGIONFACTS & FIGURES REPORTS IN NATIONAL LANGUAGES
ASACCCataloniaASACC Facts & Figures, data 2018
COURT-CIRCUITBelgium (Wallonia-Brussels) Bilan 2022 des salles et organisations de concerts du rƩseau Court-Circuit
CCMA Etude sur la filiĆØre des musiques actuelles, data 2021
Court-Circuit Facts & Figures, data 2018
DANSK LIVEDenmarkStudy on Festival Volunteers 2025
BEFOLKNINGS UNDERSƘGELSE 2025 (Population Survey)
Danish Music Sales, data 2019
Danish Music Sales, data 2017
FEDELIMAFrance Key Figures, data 2023
Key numbers & evolutions of SMAC label 2023
Key Figures, data 2022
ExpĆ©rimentation nationale d’observation des parcours d’artistes musicienĀ·neĀ·s 2022 (Career path of musicians)
Key Figures, data 2019
Key Figures, data 2018
Key Figures, data 2017
Key Figures, data 2016
Key Figures, data 2015
Key Figures, data 2014
Key Figures, data 2013
Key Figures, data 2012
LiveFINFinland Impact of Corona on live music industry, data 2021
Impact of Corona on live music industry, data 2020
Festival barometer, data 2020
Festival barometer, data 2018
Venue barometer, data 2020
Key Figures of Finnish rock clubs, data 2014
LIVEKOMMGermanyGerman Club Study, data 2020/2021
Berlin Club Culture Study (Clubcommission), data 2018
LIVE MUSIC ESTONIAEstoniaReport on small music venues in Estonia & Finland (2021)
MUSIC VENUE TRUSTUK The Grassroots Live Music Ecosystem, data 2019
UK Live Music Census, data 2017
NKANorwayNorwegian Concert Organisers Statistics, data 2018
Norwegian Concert Organisers Statistics, data 2016
Norwegian Festival Statistics, data 2015
Norwegian Festival Statistics, data 2014
VNPFThe Netherlands Facts & Figures, data 2023
Facts & Figures, data 2022
Facts & Figures, corona data 2020 & 2021
Facts & Figures, data 2020
Facts & Figures, data 2019
Facts & Figures, data 2018
Facts & Figures, data 2017
Facts & Figures, data 2016
Trends Dutch music venues 2007-2015
Music Festival Atlas, data 2019
Music Festival Atlas, data 2018


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