The Live Venue Collective have published their report on the Pilot Live Performance Support Scheme which was supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
Members of the Live Venue Collective and worked unilaterally, diligently and relentlessly to curate, produce and present a total of 405 shows of the highest cultural and technical quality. The report presents to the department a record of those achievements and with it a petition for the continuation of State support in order survive the year ahead. The report calls for a continuation of aid schemes such as the PUP for all in the sector, as well as the Live Performance Support Scheme. These supports will enable the sector to retain a highly skilled workforce until it can bounce back stronger than ever in the third quarter of 2021.
The Live Venue Collective was formed as a rallying cry for Ireland’s small to medium-sized independent music venues while the Covid-19 pandemic wrought devastation on lives and businesses around the country. With the sector either shuttered or under severe restrictions since March, Ireland’s culturally vital, but financially fragile, music ecosystem is now under serious threat. Small to medium-sized venues, country-wide, are the lifeblood of the urban, rural and remote communities they serve. For decades they have diligently nurtured talent,
technical skills, music, arts and culture on their humble but internationally revered stages. Importantly they also provide employment, generate tourism and spread economic benefits throughout their local communities.
The 23 venues that form the collective include The Black Gate, Galway; Cleere’s, kilkenny; Connolly’s of Leap, Cork; Coughlan’s, Cork; Crane Lane Theatre, Cork; DeBarra’s Folk Club, Clonakilty; Dolan’s, Limerick; The Grand Social, Dublin; Kino, Cork; Lantern, Wexford, Levis Corner House, Cork; Lost Lane, Dublin; Mike the Pies, Kerry; Kavanagh’s, Laois; Roisin Dubh, Galway; Set Theatre, Kilkenny; Sin É, Dublin; Sly and the Ground, Wexford; The Sound House, Dublin; The Spirit Store, Louth; The Barn, Hotel Doolin, Clare; The White Horse, Cork;
The Workman’s Club, Dublin.
Under the scheme, €5 million was allocated to assist commercial promoters and producers to employ artists,
musicians, performers, technicians and other support staff in live performances, which may subsequently
have to be curtailed, cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19.
The project featured 23 of 28 venues involved with the Live Venue Collective. The €5m was used to host 405 shows and hire 655 artists. These shows featured 965 live audience members and in excess of 416, 259 online audience members. in all, 24,000 minutes of digital content was created with a total of 2, 110 employees hired and 3,066 days of employment created.
The report outlined issues that would need to be addressed including VAT rate on Live Streamed gigs, internet connectivity, and post production costs. The report concluded that while the Pilot LPSS was an incredibly timely and progressive scheme that offered essential mental wellbeing and momentary financial respite to all participants, it is clear that it is only in conjunction with other supports such as the PUP, EWSS and CRSS
that this sector will have any hope of survival over the coming year..
There now has been €50 Million allocated to live performance in 2021.
To read to report in full go to www.livevenuecollective.ie/
