Cost of living crisis is taking its toll on Northern Ireland music venues
Energy bills have become the top concern for music venues across the United Kingdom.
Last updated 17th Jul 2023
A quarter of music venues across Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK fear they may have to close their doors as energy bills consume a third of business costs.
As three in five music venues reveal that energy bills are their top concern for the next year, Joe Dougan from Shine in Belfast states that, “I think that the difficulties exist at the lower end, at what people call grassroots music venues, that’s generally venues below two or three hundred capacity.”
“All over the UK these venues are closing, and they are kind of the pipeline for talent, that bring them up through the various venues of the UK and hopefully build them up to arena, stadium, festival headliner level.”
The recent figures come from a study by ‘Uswitch for Business’ which says that fifty per cent of these venues are running at half capacity.
An energy expert at Uswitch for Business, Jack Arthur states that, “Live performances are central not only to the UK’s culture and entertainment sector, but also to the UK economy.”
Attempting to budget their expenses, Joe says that these small venues are limited to how much they can charge for their services.
He adds, “I think that it is one thing to note that these smaller venues don’t often make money on the shows that they do via ticket income. They are maybe breaking even on the tickets and making money on the alcohol sales but that’s based on hopefully higher attendances”.
Despite music venues having to adapt to the cost of living crisis, Joe states that it won’t change the customer experience, “It’s almost like a vocational thing for the people that our involved. It is not a way to make a lot of money”.
“A lot of the time it is done as a labour of love, a love for music and a love for nightlife. So, I don’t see the customer experience being abbreviated in any way”.
As customers change their buying habits when attending music venues, there may be concerns over what this will mean for the future of the music scene here in Northern Ireland.
Joe adds that, “In the absence of grassroots music venues it’s going to inhibit the local music scenes. It’s going to stop bands from taking their first steps on stage. I mean the small venues in Belfast are where Snow Patrol, Two Door Cinema Club or Foy Vance”.
“All these bands did their first shows in small venues and if the venues aren’t there or even if there is less of them then it is definitely going to cut into the pipeline”.