According to music industry peak body APRA AMCOS, Australia has lost approximately 1,300 live music venues and stages since COVID restrictions were implemented.

New South Wales has lost the highest proportion of its pre-COVID live music venues – almost one in three. In Victoria, which endured some of the world’s longest COVID lockdowns, it was one in four. According to figures collated by NSW Liquor and Gaming, there are just 137 live music venues state-wide.

Photo © Clem Onojeghuo/UnSplash

COVID played havoc with live music business models nationwide, but the figures suggest that other issues are also at play in NSW. Regulatory factors (the lingering effects of “lock-out laws” introduced in 2014, which were repealed in 2020), demographic change, cost-of-living pressures and local development decisions have conspired to make the running of many live music venues in NSW both unviable and unattractive.

“The role that live music plays in the economic, social and cultural fabric of Australia cannot be overstated,” said Dean Ormston, Chief Executive of APRA AMCOS. “A healthy live music scene in our cities, regional centres and towns provides them with a competitive advantage and is the feeding...