Live DMA collects data in order to analyze the situation of live music venues and clubs in Europe. This Survey Report was written in 2019 and published in January 2020.
Survey Report – Data 2017
INDEX OF THE SURVEY
KEY NUMBERS
- Venues & clubs: the driving force of the live music sector
- Legal status: a diversity of business models
- Audience capacity: a space for everyone
- Functions: more than live music
- Music events, performances and visits: where artists meet audiences
- Human resources: working behind the scenes
- Income and expenditure
KEY NUMBERS OF MUSIC VENUES PER REGION
ABOUT LIVE DMA AND THE SURVEY
LET’S ACT!
SURVEY POPULATION
SURVEY METHODOLOGY
CONTACTS
This study shows the results of the data collected on the venues’ and clubs’ activities in 2017.
In 2017, Live DMA represented 2600 music venues in 14 European regions. The data analysis was carried out from September 2018 to May 2019. Data from 2016 of LiveKomm and PETZI venues was added to complete the 2017 data.
The same 25 questions were sent to 1943 music venues of 14 different networks in 11 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and UK. Data of 604 venues were collected (31% response), which are in this study extrapolated to totals per Live DMA member and to all 2597 music venues within the Live DMA network.
The Survey in a nutshell
Image drawn from the Survey publication – Venues and clubs, the driving force of the live music sector
The key findings of the Live DMA report are not only the impressive total amount of 400,000 live music events, 950,000 artist performances, 70 million audience visits, 87,000 workers and 1.8 billion euro of income and expenditure in the music venues.
Only 37% of the music venues and clubs present live music as their only function.
Especially public venues and clubs often have social and educational functions as well, many venues and clubs have tools and support for emerging artists, and many larger venues have multi-disciplinary functions such as cinema, theater and photography.
Also, 38% of the music venues and clubs organise festivals.
52% of the music venues and clubs are non-profit organisations, with more than 90% of venues in Belgium, Denmark, France, Netherlands and Switzerland being non-profit, while the majority in Germany, Spain and UK is commercial.
The median audience capacity of the music venues and clubs is 375. 87% of all music venues and clubs have less than 1000 capacity, often with multiple smaller concert halls.
In average, a music venue or a club organises 157 music events per year and programmes 367 artist performances during these events.
Figure drawn from the Survey publication – Venues and clubs, types of legal status
Live DMA members
Our members are active participants in The Survey as they collect and produce the data. After collecting the data on national and regional levels, we are then able to analyze the situation of venues and clubs on a European level with a set of key indicators. This also leads to the possibility to understand the diversity of live music venues and clubs in different countries.
Key numbers of music venues per Live DMA member
By following the links, you can view the key facts & figures of the venues and clubs represented by our members in the different regions.
| Live DMA member | Region | Overview key facts & figures |
| ACCES | Spain | Overview of facts & figures – ACCES |
| ASACC | Catalonia | Overview of facts & figures – ASACC |
| CLUBCIRCUIT | Belgium (Flanders) | Overview of facts & figures – Clubcircuit |
| COURT-CIRCUIT | Belgium (Wallonia-Brussels) | Overview facts & figures – Court-Circuit |
| DANSK LIVE | Denmark | Overview of facts & figures – Dansk Live |
| FEDELIMA | France | Overview of facts & figures – FEDELIMA |
| KULTURA LIVE | Basque Country | Overview of facts & figures – Kultura Live |
| LIVE FIN | Finland | Overview of facts & figures – LiveFIN |
| MUSIC VENUE TRUST | UK | Overview of facts & figures – Music Venue Trust |
| NKA | Norway | Overview of facts & figures – NKA |
| SVENSK LIVE | Sweden | Overview of facts & figures – Svensk Live |
| VNPF | The Netherlands | Overview of facts & figures – VNPF |
| LIVEKOMM | Germany | Overview of facts & figures – LiveKomm |
| PETZI | Switzerland | Overview of facts & figures – PETZI |
Key numbers of music venues per legal status
By following the links, you can view the key facts & figures of the venues and clubs represented by our members with a certain legal status
| Public Non-Profit | Pdf download: Overview of facts & figures – Public venues |
| Private Non-Profit | Pdf download: Overview of facts & figures – Private Non-Profit Venues |
| Private Commercial | Pdf download: Overview of facts & figures – Private Commercial Venues |
Data collection and sector monitoring has been one of Live DMA’s first major projects. Since 2012, Live DMA collects data to represent the venues and clubs on a European level and to compare them on different scales.
Developing our own methodology is a strong asset: we build a trustful relationship with the venues and clubs taking part in this project by analyzing their needs and building then the necessary support structures.
The Survey is repeated every year to keep track of the most actual numbers and situation of the venues and clubs, but also with the aim to discover trends and developments.
Past Survey Publications
Survey Publication January 2018, based on data 2015
Survey Publication 2015, based on data 2013
