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Liverpool’s Live Entertainment Sector Poised for a Huge Boost

Liverpool has a rich musical heritage. It has recently been granted £6.75 million to boost its musical infrastructure. We discuss the funding in the article below. 

Ask anyone about music in Liverpool, and The Beatles will be the first band that springs to mind. Yet as a major port, Liverpool has always been influenced by incoming and outgoing cultures, which have shaped its attitudes toward music. It has recently been granted money to safeguard its future and maintain its place as a hub of innovation.

Investment in Liverpool’s live music sector

Almost £7 million in funding will be heading to Liverpool’s music community, designated for investment in the Merseyside culture sector. This money has been granted by the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport. It will go to small businesses, musicians, and educators.

The plan to safeguard the sonic prospects of Liverpool will be known as MusicFutures. It will feature representatives from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, its two universities, and the M&S Bank Arena. Its aim will be to explore the use of extended reality and artificial intelligence in the future of music. It aims to remix the music sector with new technology.

This will be great news for small to medium businesses in the arts sector. It is also hoped that it will continue to cement the United Kingdom’s position as the head of the global music industry.

Changes in entertainment

How people consume live entertainment and go out in general has changed dramatically. No sector has seen these as much as the casino industry. Through keeping an eye on public wants and needs, it has managed to flourish, expanding into new sectors and attracting new demographics. It has done this at a time when other entertainment forms have suffered. A lot of this has been down to its digital sector, where a selection of games, bonuses, and fast withdrawals at UK online casino have made more people play. These new customers have now moved into physical casinos, so a hybrid digital and brick-and-mortar approach has taken place.

There are a few lessons that can be learnt from the casino industry. The music industry has stayed fairly solid in terms of how it delivers entertainment: putting gigs on at the same time and even raising the barrier for entry with higher ticket prices. Yet changing the rules for accessibility is key. This is what the casino sector can teach live music. It is about listening to what consumers want and putting on gigs accordingly.

Some artists have tried this. Around two years ago, veteran DJ Annie Mac started putting on club nights that ended at 12 a.m. Aimed at so-called “Cinderellas,” it would open at 7 p.m. and close at the stroke of midnight. This addressed the issue that around 3.7 million Britons over 45 were going clubbing at least once a week.

The Guardian newspaper in the UK recently did a report on the death of the nightclub. According to the chief executive of a major bar group, 3 pm is the new 9 pm. It also stated that 31% of nightclubs had closed between March 2020 and December 2023. This shows that people don’t want to be out all night or even out late anymore. It may be time for live music to follow suit.

The live music sector

The live music sector in the United Kingdom is in turmoil. At the top end, established acts and large concert venues are thriving. Yet many worry that the bottom end, the grassroots-level gigs that feed this industry, are not. Gig venues are closing their doors at a rate of knots, with increased operating costs and fewer people going out into town.

Liverpool has fared no differently. You just need to look at the list of gig venues that have closed their doors or stopped hosting gigs since it became the Capital of Culture in 2008. The Kazimier, MelloMello, and Studio 2 Parr Street are just a few of the venues that were part of the thriving infrastructure of the city but no longer exist.

Added to this has been the cost of gigging for musicians. This has seen many bands and musicians skipping towns in favour of larger ones. An average tour and its dates are now half of what they were in the nineties. Most artists play 11 shows on a tour, as opposed to 22 in 1994. This has left many parts of the country in a cultural limbo.

What it means for Liverpool and the wider industry

The news comes at a time when Liverpool has also been announced as the world’s first accelerator city for climate action. This has come in recognition of its efforts to decarbonise the entertainment sector. It will be celebrated with a three-night music event and a conference where experts in the field will descend on the city. It is assumed that the two projects will run hand in hand.

All of this signals one thing: Liverpool is getting ready to regenerate. The talent is there, but the opportunities will now also be ready to back it. For anyone who studies or plays music in the region, there may not be a better place or time to be creative in Merseyside.