What can be done to save live music?

Last August, I wrote a blog that demonstrated my concern about the state of live music in New Orleans. Summers are always bad in New Orleans because it’s just hot as hell (and getting worse) and we just don’t have the influx of visitors that we have during most of the rest of the year.

When OffBeat started, one of the things that we did immediately was to distribute the magazine in all the area hotels and motels, because tourists have always been told that NOLA has fantastic live music….and there was really no way to promote local music to visitors. That’s how OffBeat made its mark on the local music scene, thanks to front desk staff, bellmen, and concierges in the hundreds of lodging facilities in the city who welcomed OffBeat because it promoted local music and musicians, and it made their jobs easy.

Well, those are tourists. Any venue in the Quarter or on Frenchmen suffers when there a fewer visitors in the city. Some venues are actually closing down for at least part of the summer (e.g. The Maple Leaf Bar). Bands may not have gigs because venues can’t afford to pay them, and on places like Frenchmen Street, venue owners may not be able to pay a band; they may have to do with duos and trios.

The other problem is that there is very much a negative generational shift. Younger people don’t go out to listen to live music the way that they used to. It’s too easy to experience music on their phone or tablet without leaving their house. (This article is an interesting read for people who care about music).

Here’s another wrinkle I just became aware of: virtual reality content creators are producing fantastic musical content for products like the Meta headset. I spoke with my daughter (who has one), and she told me that with the purchase of a headset, she got some great content, one of which was a concert event that allowed her to sit in the front row with other audience “members” to enjoy a fantastic “live” concert. Obviously this stuff is going to be expensive as hell ($100 at least, which is surely cheaper than actually going to the real concert itself), but if you can shell out the money for a headset, you’d probably be able to download at least some of that content. And we all know that with time, it will get cheaper.

This adoption of VR equipment and content is not going to happen overnight, but it is going to happen, and sooner than we think.

So what can musicians and venues do to maintain and to keep their live gigs alive? This requires a more serious examination of technology’s impact on the survival of live music than simply watching content on phones or tablets.

I know for a fact that younger demographics do not go out to experience live music like boomers or Gen X. It’s just too easy to watch it without having to leave your house. Phones and computers are replacing the actual experience of live music.

So it’s not just the heat or lack of visitors to the city that’s affecting our live music scene. It’s a now quickly-growing technology and it’s being used by an audience that used to regularly go out to listen to live music, and its impact will really be seen with younger audiences.

This may not affect us so significantly in the short term, but I guarantee you it’s going to have a negative impact on live music presentation and attendance in the future, and it’s coming a lot faster than you think. How do we ensure that the excitement, audience involvement and the “connection” between bands and audiences at a live music show will exist in the future? Venues are already seeing serious changes in who goes out to see live entertainment. What can be done to entice audiences of the benefits of experiencing music live instead of using technology Would love to hear your thoughts and opinions—and ideas on how to strengthen the appeal of live music. Email me: [email protected]!