The NSW Minns Government have announced the recipients of the third round of its Venue Upgrade Grant, which pledges $3.8 million towards live music venues around the state.

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Aiming to combat the “rising costs and falling revenues” that have caused the recent closure of a spate of iconic Sydney music venues, the Venue Upgrade Grants will fund 33 metropolitan and regional venues to kit out their spaces with soundproofing, audiovisual gear and staging.

Across three different streams, the grant is designed to help venues deliver “compelling audiovisual experiences” as audiences increasingly turn to streaming services and social media for entertainment.

Recipients span from major Sydney music institutions including the Metro Theatre, Oxford Art Factory, the Enmore Theatre and City Recital Hall to pub venues including The Lansdowne, the Lord Gladstone and the Brass Monkey, which recieves $121,096 for upgrades to its stage, backline and sound proofing.

Outside of the city, venues including Wollongong’s La La La’s, Newcastle’s King St Hotel, Byron Bay’s Beach Hotel and Coffs Harbour’s Hoey Moey will also recieve funding.

“In the last few months we’ve lost more than five venues in Sydney including Mary’s Underground and Moshpit Bar. These are venues that constantly staged and championed live music, which shows how much pressure our venues are under,” said John Graham, Minister for Arts, Music and the Night-time Economy.

“If we let our music venues fail then our night-time economies and our cultural life will suffer, and we can’t afford to let that happen.”

This funding joins other Minns Government initiatives to support live music as in its Vibrancy Reforms, which include new Special Entertainment Precincts, reduced licensing fees and extended trading hours for music venues and reforms for the noise complaint system.

The series of recent venue closures include Dulwich Hill’s Lazy Thinking, which closes its doors this week after being evicted by its landlord in early August. Annandale Creative Arts Centre, Earlwood-based People’s Republic (the winner of the NSW State Luminary Award at this year’s Art Music Awards) have both closed; Erskineville’s heavy music haven MoshPit and Local Edition, Glebe’s home for art music, art and design, have both announced their closure later this year.

More about the Venue Upgrade Grants and its full list of recipients can be found here.