Local music culture in this country is in sharp decline. We are losing the soul and spirit of our communities. Venues are closing down. Community third spaces gone. Why? Because of continuous austerity and an unsustainable economic system. The youth are losing out on local gig nights and community experiences. Up and coming artists aren’t given an opportunity to perform. Local venues can’t afford their bills. Something has to change.
In the Music Venue Trust (MVT) latest report they found 24.9% of their membership are facing a threat of permanent closure. Why is this even happening? Well this can partially be put down to the cost of living crisis. In this country, costs of basic needs have been increasing substantially. However, we have not seen the improvement of wages to match this. People have to compromise, and activities such as going to local music venues are unfortunately the first cut. On top of this, venues are also having to deal with the cost of living crisis themselves. The MVT 2024 report also found that over 43.8% of venues reported a loss in the last 12 months. Less revenue and more costs, it’s a recipe for disaster.
As a result of this, we are having our local community spaces with long histories stripped from us. We are losing the opportunity to support local artists. We are losing valuable third spaces and we are losing our access to live music. This is shown in the MVT report, which shows that, in 1994, primary and secondary touring circuits were spread across 28 different locations all across the UK. Now it is just 12, all in major cities. This has hit Scotland especially hard. As someone from Aberdeen, it is incredibly frustrating that almost every time I want to see a major artist it’s a 2 and half journey to the central belt. Even with Edinburgh being dropped from the primary circuit, the lack of accessibility to live music in Scotland is devastating.
In this capitalist system, all that matters is profit. We are losing core places in our community because they can’t make a profit, while the big firms are able to handle the costs and stay afloat. It’s an unstable system. We need to recognise that these small venues have a character which can not be replaced by a new arena. We also must recognise that in order to have a thriving music culture, we must have opportunities for local artists to perform. The fixation on profit causes us to forget how much these spaces mean to people. This is sadly not alone to the music industry, another clear example of third spaces being lost is the pub industry. This system we live in will result in monopoly, with a disregard for how much a place meant to a community.
We need to have community ownership now. These places are for the community so they should be run by the community. The SSY proposes that now is the time for the Scottish and local governments to intervene. Our councils must be given the power and funds to take these venues back into community ownership, allowing us to maintain them. We need this if we want the future of Scottish music from our communities. We need this if we want to get people involved in supporting local artists.
We also must not ignore the huge impact the cost of living crisis is having on not just music venues but pubs, cinemas, theatres and comedy clubs – all shutting down as they can’t afford their bills. We need to increase wages and have a society everyone can afford. This will allow people to be able to enjoy and spend money towards these venues. We must recognise how important these spaces are for a community as its places where everyone can come together and meet new people. We need to fight to keep these places open.
Featured image credit: Thibault Trillet
