I have been to a few gigs lately at small venues, with small audiences and wondered how they do it
Up here quite a few folkies on tour seem to be missing a venue that seats 130ish in favour of one that seats about 35 (and regularly sells out)
The slide has been long. Later pub / bar opening times hit music venues hard. Culturally things have shifted too. People are having ‘pre match’ drinks at home before going out’. Doesn’t sound much but this shifted the 'see you at 7:30 to see you at 10. This was prime time not just for venues but also bars / clubs (So they opened longer but the crowd were already half cut so less spend overall). I ran two venues booking 14 acts per week 13 odd years ago now. Things were shifting even then, the smoking ban had quite an impact on some venues without outdoor space.
Regionally you will see venues compete either on price (Door / drinks) or quality (larger acts) . In Plymouth bars / venues opted to go for Price (Not a lot of disposable down here) and so the quality of bookings / door fees etc was low. Money was to be made at the bar. These days social media / band camp / etc mean bands can gain exposure in other ways. This is a shame as it’s only through repeated performance they really get to polish their craft.
Covid and the cost of living situation have really chewed into what was already in decline. Rent / licensing / staff / equipment hire / insurance etc etc is all up. Conversely major artists are filling stadiums at premium prices - The audience just isn’t interested / prepared to spend for lower tier bands. Seeing a new band every week is not the dominant culture these days sadly. Many bars have a DJ or even a local act so dedicated venues are even more under the hammer.
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This. Good post. This is not remotely news - the death of the pub, the death of the cinema, the death of the workingman’s club, the death of the restaurant, the death of the small venue, the death of in-person socialising… The death of The Arts… It’s a fucking massacre… Even the bingo halls are shutting-down.
Ever since the advent of social media, and especially the twatphone, more-and-more people are just staying at home admiring their own electronic reflection like 68 million brain-damaged budgies. Me too 
And to be fair Hell is Other People…
I have to travel 10s of miles, sometimes hundreds, to see any one of the thousands of acts I like and want to see, and with upwards-spiralling costs, that’s happening less-and-less.
As you say, lots of causes, but I’d put 13 years of tory scum at the top - they’ve done almost nothing to help any of the above, and indeed, done a great deal to hurt them. Elitist govts don’t want ordinary people to have any contact with art - cheapens the whole thing, dontcha know? - and they don’t want them to have any contact with one-another: lest we start comparing notes on their endless failures…
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I would like to see a dramatic change in alcohol duty, which would slightly lower the price at pubs etc, and hugely increase it at home.
Booze can be a healthy drug when you’re out with people doing things, but if you’re at home, much less so. The pricing should reflect this.
So if, all of a sudden, the booze is a similar price to home, the cash to see a band doesn’t seem so much. This would really help small bands/venues, as well as pubs and restaurants.
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When I take my quarterly trip to Mid-Wales I take a boot full of Aldi cider for my mate. Here it’s £1-99, £4-99 down there, also in Scotchand I believe.
Make that all the cunty politicians. When the big drinks companies and global venue types persuaded governments to allow them to move en mass into town and city centres, converting old banks and shops into 2 for 1 hell holes for the growing student population, it fucking decimated pub venues down the rougher ends of towns. I saw this happen in Bath and a recent visit confirmed it has just become fucking duller as a result. A lot of other things happened at the same time, my generation started to listen to music via headphones and it was no longer a shared experience. Culture changed, raves became a thing, indentured apprenticeships ended (that’s a shit load of money out of the night economy), young people got mortgages and the most important one, the fucking BBC introduced hot showers at Glastonbury precipitating the demise of true festivals.
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