It’s something Sydney would never admit, but now it’s official: Melbourne is the live music capital of the world, according to a new Live Music Census.
The second-ever Melbourne Live Music Census has found the Victorian capital has one live music venue for every 9,503 residents, making it the live music capital of the world on a per-capita basis.
By comparison, London has one venue per 34,350 residents, New York one per 18,554 residents and Los Angeles one per 19,607 residents.
The census, published by Music Victoria, found that on each Saturday night, Melbourne’s music venues play host to around 112,000 patrons, with a total of 73,605 gigs recorded in 2017 alone (up from 62,000 in 2012).
The census also found that live music attracted more people than the AFL, Spring Racing Carnival, A League, NBL, Netball, NRL, Cricket and Australian Grand Prix combined, with 17.5 million visits in 2017, raking in $1.42 billion and creating over 18,300 part-time jobs.
55 per cent of Melbourne’s live music venues also reported an increase in their audience in 2017, while 16 per cent reported a decrease.
“While the number of regular gigs is about the same, we’ve bucked global trends of a declining live music scene,” says Music Victoria CEO Patrick Donovan.
“The number of gigs and audiences are growing, as well as the number of part time live music venues, which is consistent with the popularity of live music at non-traditional venues, such as sporting events, and at institutions such as the NGV, the Melbourne Zoo and Melbourne Museum.”
You can read the 2017 Melbourne Live Music Census in full at the Music Victoria website.
