City of Sydney Announces Further Spending to Boost Live Music and Nighttime Economy

Let's be honest. When it comes to live entertainment, Sydney kind of feels like the town from Footloose at the moment, where music and dancing and general after-hours fun has been pretty crushed by arcane legislation, and venues defined by their live tunes have been reduced to plaques on walls, or simply to nothing at all. Lord Mayor Clover Moore, however, has promised to pop on the rubber gloves, bust out the Gumption, and try and get this mess cleaned up. "We're using every lever at our disposal to encourage more live music and performance," the Lord Mayor said tpday, as well as committing to efforts to "reduce unnecessary red tape".

According to the Live Music and Performance Action Plan, the City has identified that live music, unsurprisingly, brings significant cashflow to the local economy — we're talking $353 million in 2016 alone, according to research conducted by the council. After Sydney's CBD live music venues lost half their revenue after the lockout laws were introduced, some venues were granted exemptions from the restrictions — but not all.

The plan was implemented in June 2014 and has been having a crack at keeping Sydney open, with targeted spends on live music and performance including $2.77 million in small grants since the program's inception. Other actions detailed by the City include continued collaboration with State Government departments and local business owners to activate Sydney when the sun goes down.

The action plan is currently halfway through its projected life cycle, so stay tuned for further updates on the City's efforts to keep the city kicking on.