Features
European Venue Survey Results: Grassroots Venues Generated $2.78B
– Grassroots Music Venues
incubators of future headliners
Live DMA, the European network representing venues and festivals co-funded by the EU, has released data on the 2015 grassroots venue scene in Europe. Pollstar scoured the report for key findings.
In 2017, Live DMA represented 2109 music venues in 13 different European countries. The data is based on a survey conducted between Sept. 2016 and May 2017 about the year 2015. 23 questions were sent out to 1000 member venues, of which 452 (or 41 percent) responded. Live DMA then extrapolated the data to totals per Live DMA member and to all 2109 music venues within the Live DMA network.
In 2015, Live DMA’s members organized 233,500 music activities with 381,760 artist performances attracting 56 million visitors, 78 percent of them paying, the rest going to free events.
Live DMA member venues run on the energy of 135,000 workers, including 49,200 paid employees and 81,200 volunteers.
The venues generated €2.24 billion ($2.78 billion) in 2015, which was barely enough to cover the total expenses of €2.23 billion ($2.77 billion). The average profit per venue in the year 2015 was €909 ($1,100).
60 percent of the surveyed venues aren’t aiming for profit. More than 90 percent of venues in Belgium, France, Netherlands and Switzerland are non-profit venues, while the majority in Germany, Italy and Spain are commercial enterprises.
When broken down per venue, the average capacity is 538, with a median capacity of 400. The average grassroots music venue hosts 111 music activities and 227 music performances per year, attracting 26,533 people. 64 people on average work in a live music venue, 39 of which are volunteers.
The average total yearly income lies at €1.1 million ($1.4 million), 27 percent of which are generated through ticket sales. Food and beverage account for 18 percent and subsidies make up 35 percent of the average venue’s income, with the remaining 20 percent coming from other sources.
Total expenses also amount to €1.1 million, when rounded up, 33 percent of which are spent on programming, 28 percent on employees and nine percent on housing costs. 30 percent are spent on other costs.
The average amount generated by tickets sales per paid visit amounts to €11.55 ($14.3), the average amount generated by subsidies per visit amounts to €11.61 ($14.4).
Clubs with a capacity between 50-399, on average, cover 59 percent of their programming costs via ticket sales. 400-999 capacity venues are able to cover 71 percent. Only the bigger spaces that can host between 1,000-5,000 people are usually able to cover most of their programming costs through ticket sales, or at least 97 percent of them are.
These findings are part of what Mark Davyd, the founder of the UK’s Music Venue Trust, meant, when he said: “We’ve built a model of work that doesn’t reward the thing we’re doing.”
The survey further confirms this: “The music venues all share their core business of organizing live concerts and programming music, but actually only 17 percent of the venues organize live music only. Half of the venues manage social and educational activities, rehearsal spaces, support and projects for artists. One third of all venues run a bar or restaurant outside concert hours.
“In addition, many venues have multidisciplinary functions and host a cinema, theatre, photo gallery or organize other non-music activities. Music venues play an important role in the cultural life in rural areas, as well as cities, as a citizen space and meeting place for artistic expression and cultural diversity.”
Venue organizations under the Live DMA umbrella, that participated in the survey, include ACCES and ASACC (Spain), Clubcircuit and Club Plasma (Belgium), Dansk Live (Denmark), FEDELIMA (France), Live Komm (Germany), PETZI (Switzerland), Norske Konsertarrangører (Norway) and VNPF (Netherlands).
The report concludes: “The survey clearly shows that the large share of the music venues in Europe are grassroots venues, that invest in new music talents. Many (international and) national popular music artists in all countries started their careers in the Live DMA venues. It helped them develop their skills and talents and develop an audience. The venues are a crucial part of the chain of talent development and their road to success and a better income.
“Many established artists acknowledge the important role of music venues and the need for government support, which can be with more awareness, acknowledgement for popular music as a performing art, financial investments or changing rules and regulations in favor of the venues activities.”