Adelaide Live Music Census shows more venues showcasing gigs

Findings just released by Music SA and the Live Music Office of the 2017 Adelaide Live Music Census conducted in May found that the city is hosting more live gigs than before.

It shows a 15% increase in gigs and a 34% increase in venues overall compared to two years ago.

1108 gigs were presented, compared to 1101 in 2016 and 962 in 2015.

211 venues hosted live music, compared to 208 last year and 157 the year before.

Only 34% of the gigs showcased original music, with covers constituting 66%.

Hotels provided 912 gigs across 161 venues – 84% of gigs and 76% of venues.

The Census’ definition of “hotels” includes some clubs, bars, special circumstances licenses and entertainment venues.

There were 35 gigs across 10 entertainment venues, 39 gigs in 11 clubs, and 12 gigs in four restaurants.

Only one small venue licence had live music, hosting six gigs across the month.

This category of liquor licence was introduced in 2012 to support the development of the live music sector in South Australia.

Of the suburbs, Adelaide provided the most live gigs, followed by North Adelaide, Glenelg, Hindmarsh, Brompton and Semaphore.

20 of the Special Circumstance Licences were hotels

Music SA explains that “short term, (the Census) captures what sort of music is presented in licensed premises in greater Adelaide and who presents it.

“Longer term, the project provides a baseline of the live music scene from which to evaluate the effectiveness of strategic policy delivery such as regulatory reform as well as to assist in determining funding priorities.

“Case in point is the presentation of live music in the small venue license category.

“Whilst there are now over 60 small venue licenses, this census has shown that only one of these stages live music.

“It has been identified that while the license category was created to encourage live music, entertainment has been restricted through the planning approval process.

“The recent 90 Day Change Project has recommended development exemption for small venues.”

The most popular genres were acoustic covers (356 gigs in 65 venues) and covers (226 gigs and 50 venues).

Of original content, contemporary music was most popular, followed by acoustic, classical, and Celtic, with hard rock and jazz tying with similar numbers.

Music SA also did a Census in May 2016 and May 2015 with help from the Live Music Office.

It readily admits that these figures more offer a good indication of the state of play, and may not be conclusive as some venues might have been inadvertently left out.

The data was compiled by Music SA staff from venue websites and social media pages, and various gig guides online and in printed form.

Further information was sourced through word of mouth, working the phones, as well as Music SA and industry contacts.

Read the report in fullhere.