Even though Sydneysiders are reluctant to admit it, it’s now been declared official. Melbourne is the live music capital of the world.
The findings come from Music Victoria’s Live Music Census, which looks at a variety of subjects surrounding live music throughout the state.
The study found Melbourne boasts one live music venue for every 9,503 residents, making Melbourne the live music capital of the world on a per-capita basis.
By comparison London has 245 venues (one per 34,350 residents), New York has 453 venues (one per 18,554 residents) and Los Angeles 510 venues (one per 19,607 residents)
Further findings include that live music attracted more attendance than the AFL, Spring Racing Carnival, A League, Basketball, Netball, NRL, Cricket and the Australian Grand Prix combined.
“It’s fantastic to see that Melbourne has grown as a live music city in the past five years,” said Music Victoria CEO Patrick Donovan. “While the number of regular gigs is about the same, we’ve bucked global trends of a declining live music scene. 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.”
