A community-based venue system seems to be the solution to save Melbourne’s endangered music scene.
Post-pandemic, so many iconic Melbourne live music venues and pubs have been under the threat of closure, including the likes of The Vineyard, Open Studio and most recently The Gasometer. Some venues have had to even close their doors forever – 256 Victorian venues have closed since Covid alone.
Owners have deemed it impossible to keep their venues alive due to rising insurance costs, low ticket sales and lack of government funding.
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Melbourne is the epicentre of art and culture, known for its vibrant nightlife and iconic music scene. That’s what attracts people here. From small, intimate spaces hosting indie bands to larger venues supporting international acts, these places are the stages where Melbourne’s music culture thrives. Venues like The Tote, Corner Hotel, and Cherry Bar have become iconic, representing the city’s diverse music genres, from rock to electronic, jazz to hip-hop.
For many Melburnians, frequenting live music venues is a key part of their lifestyle and social identity. Whether it’s attending a local gig, meeting friends at a favourite pub with live performances, or discovering new bands, these spaces become integral to personal and communal life in Melbourne. So how do we save these venues from an unthinkable downfall?
The UK’s community ownership model
Let’s turn to the UK and its community ownership model. Basically, there’s this scheme called the #ownourvenues, introduced by the Music Venue Trust in 2022. This movement seeks to preserve local cultural hubs by enabling the community to take over the ownership and management of such establishments when they are at risk of being sold or closed down.
Local communities can apply for an asset transfer from the government or private owners, which allows them to take control of a building (such as a pub or music venue) that is deemed valuable to local culture and heritage.
The main feature of the model is the “community right to bid”, which means that community groups, local councils and charities have the opportunity to nominate buildings as important to the community, and therefore can be bought by them via the market value.
This means that venues continue to be a valuable part of the cultural economy, without it being sold to private landlords or enterprises. Successful implementations of this scheme include initiatives at Newport’s Le Pub, Manchester’s The Snug and Preston’s The Ferret, where was reported that “the initiative has successfully secured the venue’s future, eliminated the uncertainty of closure and reinforced its role as a community”.
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So why should Melbournians care about this?
Adopting this model could address the issue of venue and pub closures in Melbourne and thus preserve the collective cultural identity that is so dear to us. By placing control of these venues in the hands of the community, Melbourne can prevent them from the sad fate of being torn down and rebuilt by property developers looking for short-term profit.
Encouraging local involvement like this can create a sense of community pride, where people can imagine their kids performing there, getting jobs there, getting involved in coming to gigs and supporting them.
A good old Aussie pub is the core and lifeblood of the community. It’s a fundamental public space where friends reunite, where people come together to celebrate and to mourn, to sing and dance. Pubs and music venues in Melbourne are more than just places where people go to hear live performances and drink – they are integral to the city’s cultural DNA.
Not just that, pubs that have live music are so important to the local music scene, especially for up-and-coming artists. There is a whole ecosystem in there, it’s a place where musicians build up their careers, a gathering place for music lovers alike.
In this sense, protecting and supporting these venues is not just about preserving music – it’s about safeguarding the very soul of the city itself.
For more information on the community ownership model, head here.
