The West Midlands is home to a thriving cultural scene. From live music venues and theatres to bustling bars and nightclubs, the region’s night-time economy is a cornerstone of its identity and growth. Yet, behind the vibrant lights and packed events lies a challenge that affects audiences, workers, and the environment alike: how do we…
In August 2025, Birmingham City Council introduced a sweeping Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) that effectively bans all busking in key areas of the city centre until 2028. The stated aim: to reduce noise pollution and improve public wellbeing. The order prohibits the use of amplification equipment, musical instruments, or any items used as instruments…
Chiara De Dominicis, Alessandro Bratus (LMMP Italian Team) Mapping Florence’s live music ecosystem offers valuable insight into the city’s cultural and spatial dynamics. The dataset, comprising 265 venues across five districts, highlights a significant concentration in District 1, particularly in the historic center, where 60% of the venues are located. This area’s prominence reflects…
“From authorities responsible for regulation and support (public authorities) to organisations representing the interests of the music industry (non-state actors), there are many people involved in shaping the regional music ecosystem The music industry in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands area is a complex ecosystem that involves a wide range of stakeholders (Rozbicka et…
About the map The BLMP Birmingham Music Venue Map (v1.0) was launched on Monday 1st June 2020. You can view the map by visiting this link: https://birmingham.livemusicresearch.org/map The map has two main areas: Venue Map An interactive map of music venues in locations with B-postcodes. Each venue is represented by a dot coloured by one…
Liverpool City Region Music Board is proud to reveal the new digital map which details useful information about local live music venues that is not accessible anywhere else. The map and its data will be used to support the local music eco-system. The map is now live on the music board’s website Created in partnership…
If you run a venue or if you are a promoter who puts on gigs in the city region (Liverpool, Wirral, St Helens, Sefton, Halton and Knowsley), the Liverpool City Region Music Board would like to invite you to this event. The Board would like to meet with you and hear your thoughts and opinions,…
The BLMP Birmingham Music Venue Map (v1.0) was launched on Monday 1st June 2020. You can view the map by visiting this link: https://birmingham.livemusicresearch.org/map
Following the recent release of various COVID protocols by the UK Government, and the most recent support package for the live music industry, we are now moving to the next stage of the Birmingham Live Music Project with the release of two surveys of the Birmingham live music sector – one is for Audiences, and…
In a collaborative blog post for the Aston University website, the BLMP Student Assistant team discussed their work on the project. Our Researching within BLMP Three of us have been part of The Birmingham Live Music Project (BLMP), where we have been responsible for data collection, social media campaign and general support of the core…
