Sydney deserves a live music scene
- Author:
- Jason Marshall
- Posted:
- Thursday, 31 January 2013
It’s no secret. Sydney’s live music scene has been slowly strangled to death over recent decades by overzealous planning restrictions, unfair noise complaints, poker machines and urban gentrification.
In the past few years alone the Hopetoun Hotel shut down, the Sandringham Hotel went bankrupt and the Excelsior Hotel was turned into a taco barn.
These, and numerous other closures, have lead to an over-competitive environment for musicians.
That is the verdict on Sydney’s live music scene from James Fox, who has had over 10 years experience in the city’s music industry, heading up bands Bishop’s Robes, Rich Uncle Skeleton and Sargent Sapphire.
Mr Fox said the industry is small and there are few places to get any solid work as a musician of any variety, whether you be a sound engineer or a live performer.
“It’s such a tiny little club; you have to wait for somebody to die to get into it or you have to know somebody,” Mr Fox said.
Some bands will even steer their fans towards the beer gardens rather than watching other bands.
“It’s so fiercely guarded because there are so few people in the industry side of things; there’s very little community in the music community,” Mr Fox said.
Most venues take a cut of ticket sales but do very little promotion for the bands.
“A little bit of government capital injected into the actual scene would work really well, but most musicians are under the impression that the government hates the arts program,” Mr Fox said.
With the Annandale Hotel still hanging on by the skin of its teeth, the Labor Party at the last local government election announced a proactive live music policy to turn around the decay.
City of Sydney Labor Councillor Linda Scott said Council should be doing more to ensure Sydney had venues where emerging musicians and local artists can perform.
Labor has a two-pronged solution; a public and venue education program, and a suite of policy and regulatory changes.
“Part of it is educating the community about the fact that when they choose to move into an area,” Ms Scott said. “If there are already live music venues there, that will mean some noise, and that is part and parcel to living in the inner city.
“The other part of it is regulatory and policy changes to make sure that venues can apply to be a live music venue, and they can do that in a transparent process that doesn’t have many restrictions attached to it.”
There are venues in Sydney that are not operating to the letter of the law, but could if the development process was clarified for them.
Laws pertaining to the order of occupancy can be reconsidered to give venues protection from residents who move next door to an existing establishment and proceed to make noise complaints.
Ms Scott said: “People buying or renting in an area need to understand that if there is a premises in an area, if they are to move in after that premises is open, that order of occupancy provision means that because that live venue was there first … noise complaints are seen in that context.”
However, not all residential protections would be removed.
“Obviously if people make noise complaints about noise issues that are outside the times that the venue is licensed to operate or they’re really acting quite unreasonably, the Council needs to look at those,” Ms Scott said.
Ms Scott is adamant the city’s festivals should be better geared towards young and emerging artists, ensuring large crowds hear their music.
The Annandale Hotel
Like this article? Register as a subscriber here. It's free! We'll keep you up to date with new stories on the site.
January 31st, 2013 @ 8:31 pm
So, the CEO of a “bank” ….. “..earns..” $37 million a year.
I have been looking for live work that might pay me $50 a night to perform for a few hours: (let alone the few thousand dollars to buy my equipment, travel costs, etc … ) and only if I can be the victor from a few hunded applicants.
What role does “music” play in our social fabric? How important is it compared, say, to “money?” How much joy does a poker machine bring to society?
I play in two bands.
One has not been able to get a gig for over a year.
Its a very good band. Two members have left because we don’t get work.
The other band has had one gig in the last six months. It also lost a player because he got work elsewhere. When all that happens, we have to advertise and audition for new players, which costs time and money.
We pay for our gear, we pay to rent rehearsal rooms (plus the usual travel costs, tolls, etc). The government(s) tends to favor the complainants who see music as “noise pollution” and disruption by the many for the very few.
Let’s conduct an experiment. Let’s remove music entirely from everyone’s lives for a week.
February 1st, 2013 @ 1:07 pm
Poker Machines allow the Crown Hotel Surry Hills to provide LIVE Professional music 5 nights a week and Burlesque weekly. The Council however has made it Harder and Harder…. Please get the fact! it’s not the Pokies, if they were not there we could not re-invest… NSW should give me a Poky Tax break to help support the arts…. ! Now raise that with them for me…I have and they just want more $$$$ and ask council to support a minimum 3 people complain strategies…
February 10th, 2013 @ 1:49 pm
To City of Sydney Council
Lord Mayor Councillors and CEO
February 10th, 2013
Live music: Calls for John Wardle to resign as Sydney Council Live Music Task Force chair
Sydney Coucnil’s new taskforce is designed to create even more live music venues within our LGA and is not welcome.
See council media release Friday 7th February 2013:
http://www.sydneymedia.com.au/new-taskforce-to-revup-live-music-scene/
There is not one scintilla of groundswell of community resident support for this scheme or so-called “task force”.
Unsurprisingly, the task force is pre-biased: its does not have one residents’ community group member on it.
Its terms of reference are unknown but its raison d’être is to create more live music venues: its outcome is therefore pre-determined, rather than focussing primarily how to enhance our living environment.
Its Chair, John Wardle, should resign because he lacks impartiality, is biased and is a priori prejudiced.
He is a publicly-declared, pro-live music urban activist and is failed Clover Moore Councillor Team Member in the September 2008 elections.
see: http://www.cloverarchive.com/main/?id=1673
He was or is is therefore probably a donor to Clover Moore’s Team.
He is, we understand, receiving money for his duties are Chair.
Money has changed hands here.
He has a conflict of interest: is he serving Clover Moore as her political proponent and acolyte or is he serving her as a person receiving payment?
The public are now entitled to genuinely ask: “Is his appointment some form of ‘political payback’?”
This is not a rhetorical question or suggestion.
Consider recent, risible comments by Councillor Linda Scott in the above City News article.
She states that “Part of it is educating the community about the fact that when they choose to move into an area … If there are already live music venues there, that will mean some noise, and that is part and parcel to living in the inner city”
In other words, like it or lump it residents. Or go away.
In effect, residents need to be “educated”, Orwellian-style, she says and move out or go elsewhere when looking for or living in homes if they find there’s too much noise in their area.
This approach is a two-fingered salute to ratepayers, stake holders and residents.
Ms Scott forgets that:
1 Residents have a right to live in their chosen environment;
2 Residents are not developers, money-motivated music promoters or profit-making music bands or exploiter-style commercial pubs and clubs linked to alcohol-related violence. They are benign occupiers of their environment;
3 They are protected by the State Schemes Act giving them legal rights to the quiet enjoyment of their own home;
4 They are protected by section 79C of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act which requires, demands actually, council consider and reject if necessary any development which is not suitable for its site in terms of its urban and social environment;
5 Council’s zoning rules allow residential apartments that are based on the premise they are suitable for those uses. This premise is inchoate and creates an alienable right to occupy homes for those uses, as distinct from occupying them to be pummelled by others’ live music. There is such a thing as acoustic privacy;
6 Council’s pre-purchase, section 149 certificates for new buyers do not mention where live music venues are in relation to their proposed properties or their decibel outputs. How can residents actually know of potential problems or be legally warned?
7 It is therefore completely untenable for Clr Scott to suggest prospective purchasers can even know of or do site surveys to find out a pub’s or club’s or live music venue’s patron capacity, weekly attendance, decibel outputs and compliance record – for each and every venue. She is dreaming;
8 Certainty in planning is therefore reduced.
9 Clover Moore has unequivocally stated:
“During the election campaign I gave a firm commitment to address this issue … This Greater level of certainty regarding the potential impact of new development will be very helpful in people’s decision to buy property, which for many people is the largest investment they will make.”
See recommendation B, passed unanimously April 2004:
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Development/documents/PlanningControlPlans/PlanningResolutionMinute19042004.pdf
Clover Moore is Janus-faced by launching this Task Force affecting people’s decision to buy property.
10 The onus is actually on live music bands and venue operators to ensure they do not disturb the neighbourhood or locality.
After all, these premises were never originally designed for these new uses.
11 They can do this by:
· Adding triple glazing and noise attenuation measures such as wall and roof dampening, and (not “or”),
· Reducing hours, ceasing all live music after 10:00pm, and
· Ensuring all windows and doors are fully closed and sealed at all times, and
· Reducing decibels with lockable, auto- amplification cut-out mechanisms turning sound systems off if they exceed 45 decibels at any time, and
· Include a sound-cell alcove at entrances to eliminate, not just reduce or “minimise”, noise escape, and
· Limiting patron capacity t 40 maximum at any one time,;
12 Council should:
. vastly increase the number of rangers and compliance staff, and
· purchase laptop computers for rangers to ensure they know DA conditions for decibel output levels for sites they are called to, and
· eliminate the over-lenient approach of issuing multiple warnings for breaches, and
· issue on-the-spot fines of $1,000 – $5,000 for breaches, just as council issues such fines for car parking offences, and
· introduce a 75 metre buffer zone between any live music venue, pub or club and any residential dwelling, and
· ban such venues in heritage zones now re-named special characteristic areas, and
· stop any DA for live music venue or potential live music venue, including pubs and clubs, from being dealt with behind closed doors under delegated authority.
After all, council spruiks that “The role of Council is to:
· Represent the community and advocate its viewpoint;
· Formulate policy and make decisions that will benefit the community as a whole”.
Source: Participation in Local Government – Representation http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Council/FormsPoliciesPublication/AgencyInformationGuide.asp
So council should now implement the above measures.
13 Our area has already reached saturation point in terms of numbers of live-music pubs and clubs Such venues are inextricably linked to alcohol and this alcohol-related violence. Adding more live music venues will increase patron loitering, anti-social activities, on-street queuing and on-street crime.
Is Thomas Kelly’s death to be in vain?
14 Noise is now a major or even the biggest factor adversely affecting residential amenity.
We completely disagree with council’s dictum that residents should hire acoustic consultants at their own expence as well as pre-determine breaches of noise controls and that they should “locate clubs, hotels and bars … to investigate noise”.
source: http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Residents/Noise/LivingInTheCity.asp
This policy has never been put to councillors – ever.
Clover Moore’s claim these issues are a matter of “balance” is incorrect: they are a matter of rights and of liveability.
Clearly, she is out of touch with community mores.
Council is pursuing this path of increasing live music for political reasons, chasing the younger demographic vote, but residents will lose, or even move, out.
It’s therefore no surprise that in our area of Kings Cross and Potts Point the residential population has decreased 6% over the last two censuses according to council’s social planner, Ian Haye, with residents stating their main issues are amenity and safety.
This proposal, with its pre-determined political outcomes, cannot “increase increase certainty and transparency in planning” as per Clover Moore’s Lord Mayoral Minute of April 2004, but will trash Sydney’s liveability.
We deserve and are entitled to better.
Thank you
Andrew Woodhouse
President
Potts Point and Kings Cross Heritage Conservation Society
Ph 0415 949 506
Saving out past for the future
=========================================================