Prominent Sydney venue operator Matt Rule applauds City of Sydney’s Agent of Change proposal

The City of Sydney’s proposal that the Agent of Change idea be introduced to protect its live music venues has won acclaim from one of the city’s most high profile venue operators.

Introducing Agent of Change would mean that developers building new residential apartments near an existing music venue will have to take responsibility for sound-proofing them, and

should residents believe that a venue is playing music louder than what has been approved, council rangers will have a set sound level they can measure against to determine if the complaint is indeed offensive noise or not.

“It’s a very simple but very effective way to solving the problem,” Matt Rule tells TMN. “It would be a great thing for Sydney to get that, such a huge thing, and I applaud that proposal.”

Rule and his brother Dan run Music and Booze Co, set up in 2014 to curate events and festivals like Bad Friday in Marrickville, and also books acts for seven venues including The Landsdowne, The Lord Gladstone, The Lady Hampshire, The Botany View and The Chippo (The Chippendale).

The brothers know what it’s like to be embroiled in noise complaint issues when they previously ran the Annandale.

“A complaint is a nightmare for a hospitality operator because they have to prove they are guilty of what is being claimed and make the changes. It’s the wrong way to go.

“It is terrible, because for a small business it is extremely time-consuming and expensive. And it is absolutely disastrous if there are 20 complaints from the one precinct.”

Rule recounted that in 2010, Brisbane Council would provide headphones to people wanting to buy an apartment in the Fortitude Valley entertainment precinct to give them an idea of the level of the noise they would hear at night.

Such precincts are the “heartbeat of a city, and they should be protected and encouraged.”

Sydney should also learn from past mistakes on how the significance of a pulsating area as Kings Cross was allowed to be devalued through a constant negative image from occasional incidents

“The effects of the lockouts on the mindset of the public have been disastrous, and left a cloud over areas like Kings Cross,” he points out,

“Entrepreneurs who had entertainment or music as a focus have got out of that space.

“To have a vibrant city, you need to make sure that places which have live music and DJs have to be recognised as contributing to the cultural vibrancy of a robust city, and maintain it as a strong area.”

Rule agrees with TMN’s assertion that late night venues seem to be getting more scrutiny from authorities than other cultural events, with patrons getting scrutinised and subject to pat-downs.

He calls it “disappointing and worrying” and “just a waste of [police] resources.”

Rule asserts that the Sydney live scene is the healthiest it’s been in the last 20 years.

“The lockouts hindered development in some entertainment sectors.

“But on the flip side, in some areas especially in the Inner West, you see a growth in venues and a growth of publicans who see music as a vital part of their business.

“Across the board pubs are seeing that to have a successful operation, they have multiple revenue streams and points of interest, and they see entertainment as part of the texture. That’s led to a real buoyancy.

“We can see the Inner West as a real corridor of entertainment and culture.”

This, he says, leads to thriving local communities. The growing move by more councils across the country to see live music as part of city design, education, transport, housing, tourism and city branding is an encouraging one, and one which is embraced by the public.

“People are positive; they want the city to change.”

The Music Network and City of Sydney have partnered on a series of interviews and essays discussing the future of Sydney music and the industry that supports it.