Birmingham has approximately 348 music venues scattered throughout the whole B-postcode (BLMP Map v4.1). With over 190 venues located in the epicentre of the city (B1-B48). These venues, if filled to capacity on a single evening, could accommodate approximately 143,000 attendees. This figure represents about 12% of the city’s population and includes venues ranging from smaller, intimate settings like the Sunflower Lounge in the city centre to larger venues like Resort World on the city’s outskirts. The majority of Birmingham’s live music venues are bars or pubs that host music events, accounting for about 26% of all venues. The city also has a significant number of social and student clubs, theatres, and small venues dedicated solely to music, most of which have a capacity of up to 400 people. However, we also have quite a substantial number of rehearsal and production studios (~105 rooms). When compared to other cities such as Liverpool, Oxford, Glasgow, and Newcastle, Birmingham’s live music scene exhibits similar characteristics. Like Liverpool, the largest category are bars and pubs. However, Birmingham stands out due to its relatively large percentage of ‘unorthodox’ venues – green and urban outdoor spaces in the relative vicinity to the city centre.
Each venue is represented by a dot coloured by one of the venue types. Visitors can subset the data by one of the venue types by using the selection panel on the left-hand side.
The initial map was based on work undertaken as part of the ‘The UK Live Music Industry in a post-2019 era: A Globalised local perspective’ project (BLMP), funded by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC) which is led by Nesta and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
The updated version of the map and coding were funded through the following: UKRI International Fund awarded to Live Music Project by Aston University (project coordinator: Dr Patrycja Rozbicka; December 22 – March 2023), Aston University’s Proof of Concept Fund (February 2023 – July 2023), and University of Liverpool’s Policy and Participation Fund (February 2022 – June 2022), and Birmingham City Council: Birmingham and Eurocities Live Music Industry Research and Development (April 2023 – December 2023).
The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the live music scene in Birmingham, UK, with venues across the city forced to close their doors due to government restrictions arising from public health concerns. In many cases, these closures have been devastating for both the venues themselves and the communities that they serve. Singer/songwriter Namywa…
We are excited to summarise the enlightening “Level Up Midlands Music Industry Workshop” that unfolded on 13th October 2023, at the Artum/Hockley Social Club. This event marked a significant stride, delving into the nuances of Birmingham’s music industry while also gleaning strategic insights from Liverpool’s music realm. The evening kicked off with opening words by…
“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…
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…
