Rohan Silva: An agent of change could save London’s dying music venues

Heart of London: historic venues such as Charing Cross Road's Astoria have been closed to make way for new residential developments
C Ford
Rohan Silva7 September 2015
WEST END FINAL

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Here’s a little thought experiment for you. Take a moment and try to imagine what London would be like if four in 10 of our art galleries and theatres closed down. No Tate Modern, say, and no Serpentine Gallery or V&A — and almost half of all West End theatres shut.

What would London be like as a result? Well, life would go on but I’m sure you’d agree that our city would be a far less interesting and exciting place to live in. There’d be fewer opportunities for creative people to express themselves, and our economy would no doubt suffer from fewer tourists, as London’s cultural life is such a huge draw for people around the world.

Our galleries and theatres aren’t closing (phew) but something just as abysmal for London’s cultural life is happening. This week the independent Music Venue Trust is presenting Mayor Boris Johnson with a report that shows that a shocking 40 per cent of London’s live music venues have closed over the past seven years.

This is a huge blow, leaving our city vastly quieter and more boring as a result. It’s not just high-profile venues such as the Astoria and Madame Jojo’s that have been decimated since 2008 — small neighbourhood spaces for gigs are dropping like flies too.

With every passing week comes the news that another venue is under threat or being shut down, and if we’re not careful, live music venues in London are quickly going to become a thing of the past.

So what’s going wrong? The problem comes when new housing developments are built near an existing music venue, and the residents who move in inevitably start complaining about noise. With so many new housing schemes needed to keep pace with London’s fast-growing population, you can understand why our music venues are at such risk of extinction.

Addressing this means changing the way we regulate live music, and following the lead of Melbourne in Australia. There, a rule known as “Agent of Change” applies, and it’s credited with protecting music venues and clubs from the threat of new developments.

This simple rule says that the responsibility for tackling noise disturbance falls on property developers building the new housing, rather than the music venues that have been in the area all along. This might mean, for example, that new residential buildings close to existing venues would need be fitted with soundproofing, and this would be paid for by the developers.

The Agent of Change rule also applies the other way, meaning that a new venue or nightclub popping up in an area would have to take whatever action might be necessary to avoid disturbing existing residents. It’s only fair — after all, it’s the newcomer who is changing the status quo, and the rights of the existing community should be protected.

Bristol City Council recently adopted this approach, and it’s already having a positive impact. We need to follow suit in London — and we have no time to lose.

In 1968, Robert Kennedy argued that measurements of GDP and economic growth value “everything, except that which makes life worthwhile”. Our city may well get economically wealthier but if our live music venues continue to die out, we’ll all end up much the poorer.

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