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It has never been easy for small or independent music venues to turn a profit. Now, with operating costs soaring, some owners are struggling to keep ticket prices affordable for audiences and take chances on lesser-known artists.
Even as consumers have cut back on spending on leisure activities over the past year, music fans have flocked back to large stadiums to see sold-out concerts by the likes of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. It’s here. But business has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels for many small, independent venues, said Stephen Parker, executive director of the National Association of Independent Venues.
“If you’re a large venue, you’re probably doing pretty well post-pandemic,” he says. “But if you’re a smaller venue, you can see your business and keep your head up, but at the same time, a lot of the things that larger organizations have at their disposal – the economies of scale – can be difficult. It’s starting to happen.”
NIVA was established in 2020 as a vehicle to lobby for government relief during the coronavirus lockdown, which made it difficult for venues to stay open. The company was the driving force behind $16 billion in federal aid to the industry, but is now focused on other issues, including price gouging on the resale market.
The latest challenge facing NIVA’s independent venue network is protecting margins in the face of rising costs, Parker said.
At First Avenue Productions, which operates multiple venues around Minnesota’s Twin Cities, owner Dana Frank said the price of everything from beer to ice to insurance has increased due to the coronavirus pandemic. Operating costs have increased by nearly 30% compared to before the pandemic.
“We don’t have a corporate backstop and we have limited resources,” said Frank, a founding member and former president of NIVA. “Most people are owners, operators, floor sweepers, reservations managers, marketers, lightbulb changers, all kinds of jobs.”
No bourbon, no scotch, no beer.
Paul Rizzo, owner of The Bitter End, a historic club in New York City, said consumer spending overall is down while groceries and “all other costs” are up. said.
Part of that is widespread setbacks as Americans tighten their wallets, he said. But this also applies to a trend cited by some venue owners, where younger music fans are drinking less alcohol than older music fans.
Some owners suggested that marijuana legalization in many markets may be squeezing bar sales, which make up a significant portion of music venues’ revenue.
For Alisha Edmondson and Joe Lapin, co-owners of Songbird Music House, a 250-person venue in Washington, D.C., making price concessions comes in an atmosphere where ingredient costs are rising and consumers are spending less. is an ongoing challenge.
Lapin said that while many fans expect expensive drinks at large venues and stadiums, they don’t have the same expectations at smaller venues.
“There’s this idea that if you go to a small venue, it should be like a small local bar, but that’s not the economics of a venue,” Edmondson says. “We’re providing additional services, so we have to find a way to pay for them.”
fight for the right to join the party
All of this contributes to what NIVA board chairman Andre Perry calls a “very difficult balancing act” for small venues to succeed.
Perry, who has worked in the live music industry for 20 years and still works in the live music industry, said the owners not only figure out how to promote different artists each night and decide whether to take a risk on a new performer. He said the community must continually adapt as economic conditions inevitably change. He is the director of Hancher Auditorium, the performing arts theater at the University of Iowa.
Unlike some small businesses, venue owners don’t sell the same thing every day, Perry said.
“I think there’s some tension there when you’re taking a cultural practice and pushing it into the market. It doesn’t mean it’s bad or broken. It’s just that it’s not for everyone. It means we have to get serious about making it sustainable.” Those involved. “
Cat Henry, executive director of the Live Music Society, said many small venue owners are in business for the love of music and community, not necessarily to make big bucks. Ta.
Henry’s organization serves venues with a capacity of less than 300 people by providing grants to start new programs or take opportunities for emerging artists who don’t necessarily draw audiences. .
“I hope that there is recognition at the state level, at the private foundation level, that this is not necessarily a commercial model, but there is support that needs to be put in place for something that is a huge part of American society.” ” Henry said.
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