Regional Music Venues Struggle Amid Industry Woes
Small live music venue operators across regional Australia face personal and financial strain as they work to keep their doors open and sustain thriving music cultures in their communities.
A study by the University of South Australia has found that regional live music venue operators are experiencing stress and burnout as they face challenges with audience access and fairly paying performing artists.
It’s estimated that in the four years since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, Australia has lost more than 1300 live music venues and stages due to a steep increase in public liability costs and rising rent and energy prices.
This is coupled with the current cost-of-living crisis that has severely impacted venues’ bottom line and altered the spending habits of audiences, slowing both ticket and bar sales.
While there has been high-profile media attention recently about the closure of several metropolitan venues, less attention is paid to small live music venues in country towns.
Researcher Dr Rosie Roberts, along with Dr Sam Whiting of RMIT University, interviewed almost a dozen venue operators from regional South Australia in 2020-21 as part of a larger research project that informed the State Government’s Live Music Support Package.
Dr Roberts, a member of UniSA’s Creative People, Products and Places Research Centre, says live music venues in regional areas often involve high levels of volunteer labour, investing a lot of time for little financial gain.
“Many venue operators are undertaking a significant amount of the labour that’s involved for free, because they’re driven by a desire to develop and sustain a music culture in their region,” she says.
“The people we interviewed often described feelings of burnout and exhaustion and said they were the last to get paid, if paid at all, once they had ensured that the musicians were appropriately compensated.
“This can produce a churning cycle of music events which is difficult to sustain as operators become tired and need to step away. It’s very difficult to keep operations going in the medium to long term and this can fracture the development of regional music and produce short-term pockets of activity.”
Regional venues face unique challenges due to the smaller resident populations which then limit the size of bands playing, the frequency of shows and the amount that can be paid to musicians. The costs associated with travel and transport are also an issue.
While regulatory issues such as licensing and noise are often the main challenges for city-based live music venues, the issues faced by regional areas are different, Dr Roberts says.
“Regional venues face issues with accessibility and affordability of high-quality acts that attract audiences, as well as encouraging audiences to regularly attend and spend the money required to sustain such gigs, especially in the context of rising cost of living pressures,” she says.
The research study found that despite having different needs to metropolitan venues, regional venue operators often experience a lack of a voice in decision making around music policy.
Dr Roberts says solutions could include localised approaches such as continued town or regional art strategies, music feedback forums that connect city-based policy makers with regional stakeholders and the development of a regional live music policy.
She also suggests the appointment of regional live music officers, and dedicated funding schemes for small and medium sized venues in regional areas.
“Regional live music venues perform a critical function for their communities because they provide spaces of sociality, belonging, education and skill development, so it’s important we provide a healthy and sustainable live music scene for our regional centres and towns.” Dr Roberts says.
“Small live music venues are where emerging musicians first engage in music making, yet they also continue their connection with the regions throughout their lives. This makes them vital to an artist’s development both creatively and professionally.”
https://www.unisa.edu.au/media-centre/Releases/2025/soundcheck-for-survival-regional-live-music-venues–burnt-out-by-industry-struggles/