Study shows Melbourne as live music capital of the world

The Melbourne Live Music Census has found that Victoria’s capital, long voted the world's most liveable city, has more live music venues per capita than any other city in the world.

The newly released survey shows that Melbourne has one venue per 9,503 residents, higher than London (one venue per 34,350 residents), New York (one per 18,554) and Los Angelese (one per 19,607).

The Census also showed that 20% increase in the number of concerts happening in greater Melbourne between 2012 and 2017, while 55% of venues said their audience had increased in the past year.

The census, conducted by Music Victoria and the City of Melbourne with help from RMIT, Collarts and the cities of Yarra and Port Phillip, also found:

• Melbourne live music venues have an audience of 112,000 each Saturday night, the equivalent of an AFL grand final
• Attendance figures were higher for live music than the AFL, Spring Racing Carnival, A-League, and other sports combined
• Live music generated $1.4 billion in 2017, up 16% from 2012

Commenting on the findings, Census Project Manager, Dobe Newton told the ABC’s Triple J radio station “about 10 years ago, people, mainly in government, started getting this idea that music was valuable, so they put together a couple of big reports.

"But they just went to all the easy places, all the major venues.

"I thought, but what about the four or five times as many people who I know are going to the bars, and pubs, and clubs, and nobody ever counts them?"

While the Victorian Government's agent-of-change legislation offers better protection for venues from noise complaints, Newton said the city needed to continue to make sure the pressures of gentrification did not overwhelm live music culture.

Newton added “it is a real danger, but one of the reasons for doing this is to make sure everybody understands that this isn't just a bunch of dole-bludging musos here.

"This is actually a huge economic generator, and the reason people come to Melbourne."

Melbourne is often considered a more music-friendly city than Sydney, where musicians have long complained over-regulation has strangled its live music scene.

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