Let The Clubs Close

Talk about an unpopular opinion...

In case you haven't been following this story, clubs are closing at an alarming rate in the U.K. Now they want tax relief, which is fine with me, that's part of the game, but also a tax on other, larger gigs, has been proffered to keep the smaller venues in business, and I say HELL NO!

We hated to see Main Street go. But the truth was that Walmart was selling goods at a cheaper price and independent merchants could not compete. And now Walmart is challenged by Amazon. And even drugstores are closing. What, are we supposed to preserve the past?

The bottom line is today's generation doesn't want to go to clubs to listen to the music of unsigned/developing acts.

There, I said it.

The music business has completely flipped. Most acts gain their start online. Not to mention the fact that most of the name clubs in the U.S. were supported by the record companies, and after Napster came along they closed in droves.

We can have nostalgia for the past. But that does not mean we should legislate its continued existence.

Life has changed. The experience has changed. Used to be you had to leave the house for socialization, to meet people, to get laid. But that hasn't been true for years. Now, you can meet people online, and it's a much more efficient process. I can't tell you how many clubs I went to alone...and came home alone (not every time, but most of the time!)

As for the music... Music is no longer a scarce commodity. It's everywhere. If anything, we can complain that there's too much music in the pipeline. It's hard to find your way through the detritus. And the dirty little secret is that just because you make it that does not mean people will want to listen to it. If I declare myself an independent plumber am I entitled to work? And professions like medicine and law have licensing procedures. The major labels used to operate as equivalents. Either you were of a certain quality...or you kept your day job and gave up the dream.

I know, I know, the truth is harsh. But just because your parents and significant other think you're great, that does not mean the public does, you are not entitled to be heard, nor are you entitled to make a living.

Now in the miasma of modernism the major labels are completely flummoxed and are signing ever fewer acts in ever fewer genres, leaving holes filled by independents. But before they cut back, there was this fiction that there were all these overlooked, unsigned bands that the internet would surface to our satisfaction. That turned out to be untrue.

So, let's say I even want to go out to a club. Do I really want to hear some unsigned band playing original material, drowning out my conversation? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Are there acts with such a draw that you go to see them, to listen to them? Absolutely. But they are few and far between. Like I said above, that's not how acts develop these days, they do so online. Of course there are genres like jam, that defy the paradigm, but today's action starts with the recording, and then the live show.

Look at Sam Smith. He had a hit record and immediately played arenas. This was unheard of back in the day. You started in clubs, worked your way up to theatres and maybe arenas. But if you're known, the demand is there.

And don't confuse Chappell Roan with the club business. She made it by opening for a superstar, she was in front of all those eyeballs.

The chance of building it from your local club, bigger and bigger into stardom, have never been lower.

And this isn't the kind of music people want anymore anyway.

Five guys, and it was almost always guys, gritty from the city, working it out on stage, playing rock music. No, it's solo acts, oftentimes women, who are popular today. Maybe because they sing about their inner turmoil in a way the guys do not. That's why Noah Kahan is so successful, he's singing about his problems, but he's not exactly playing rock music, the kind you used to hear in clubs.

Well, maybe a bit. But it's not bombastic, Kahan's music is not in your face. Convincing those who don't care to pay attention in a club...is an incredibly heavy lift. Hell, people won't even get to the arena to hear an opening act, almost always with stature, they're going to show up at a club for even less? I don't think so.

Spend all the money you want. Keep all the clubs open. Be my guest. But good luck getting people to show up. Even if you allow them in for free. People are bombarded with options, and they'll overpay to see their heart's desire, but for something they consider to be mediocre? No way.

So we could address the issue at its heart. How to get more types of music, that of developing acts, in front of the audience. That's a worthy cause. But starting in burgs with clubs, that's a fool's errand.

Which is why so many clubs are closing.

And then there's the concept of penalization. They want successful gigs to be taxed to keep the clubs open. So I'm successful and you're going to penalize me? I'm sick and tired of ancient acts professing faux concern for the young acts of today. It's a different world. And if you ask these acts whether they want to PAY to support the up and coming...good luck with that.

We've seen this myth employed over and over again. We had to save the aforementioned Main Street, we had to save the independent bookstore, all these efforts and none ever worked. Turned out people would rather sit at home and get a book delivered by Amazon. Takes a lot less time and effort and is usually cheaper, if for no other reason than Amazon doesn't have all that overhead.

But you can browse in a bookstore, get advice from the owner!

Well, we don't have a shortage of advice, and Amazon used to have editorial staff, but then it found that the algorithm was better at recommendation!

And while we're at it, enough with bringing manufacturing back to the States. Hell, I even saw a Chappelle clip where he went on about this. Who wants to pay thousands for a flat screen TV? In a world where people will not even choose a seat on a plane just to save a handful of bucks. Most people fall into the lowest common denominator/cheapest bucket, to try to deny that is to put your head in the sand.

Let's think forward, not back.

People are hungry for music, the new and the different. But today it rarely starts in clubs. For all the denigration of the internet, that's where it starts, and then it goes to live, that's the formula.


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