Rotterdam Live Music Map
Organisation: Rotterdam University
Date Created: June 2019
Rotterdam has roughly 200 places for live music, ranging from dedicated venues to outdoor venues where live music is programmed with some regularity. This supply includes all registered venues within the city's zip code area (including Hoek van Holland) and some
venues located just outside the city limits. The supply ranges from very small-scale, informal playgrounds to Stadion Feyenoord, the city’s largest live venue. Places where electronic live music is programmed are also included in the database. Bars/cafes are the most common
type of venue: they represent 27% of all play venues.
The categories dedicated music venues and outdoor venues both account for 14% of the supply of venues. Rotterdam has four stadiums and arenas where live music is programmed. This accounts for only 2% of the supply but, given the size of these venues, they do have a large impact on visitor numbers to live music in the city. Despite the fact that Rotterdam has 26 music venues, the city is known for not having an iconic large pop venue like Paradiso in Amsterdam, TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht and Paard in The Hague. After the closure of Watt in 2010, no new major dedicated pop music venue has opened in the city. Nevertheless, the city does have several large venues where pop music can be programmed, such as Annabel, De Doelen and the Maassilo. As an award-winning events city, Rotterdam has a large number of music festivals. Although the supply of venues for outdoor festivals has come under pressure in recent years, the city currently has more than 25 venues that have been found suitable for programming live music.
