Are brewery concerts hurting local music scenes?

It seems like a natural pairing. Almost every music venue in the country pairs alcohol with the music. Considering the amount of bars that also double as music venues too makes a kind of a chicken or the egg situation. So why not let breweries host music events?

David Garrick of the Houston Pressargues that breweries are damaging Houston’s music scene irreparably. The real culprit that he points to is free shows. Basically, the argument that he makes is that free shows at bars, cafes, and breweries flood the market with music and makes it tough to run a music venue, as well as devalues the entire concert experience.

Austin is an example of this. He argues that Austin has gotten to the point where music is encroaching on experiences that may not even call for music, or situations where it’s more intrusive than pleasant.

Of course, many venues will point to the fact that much of their money is not made on gate receipts, but instead on alcohol. It seems that these free shows are the natural evolution of what the market would push towards. The problem with that is certain markets have set their market expectation in such a way that artists expect to get paid the way free events often pay them, upfront, as opposed to sharing in the revenues generated by shows. Artist payments exist to free events as a loss leader with the goal to bring people in, with the revenue generator being alcohol or whatever else the event sponsor is selling. Non-traditional locations also often skimp on the sound experience because they don’t install professional, high-quality sound systems.

Then again, there’s something to be said for the accessibility of music and for giving artists the opportunity to have a more secure paycheck. It also speaks to the state of the Houston music scene specifically if breweries feel confident enough in demand that they can put on these free shows and bring enough people to pay for alcohol and cover costs.

Maybe the solution isn’t to rail against brewery shows, but instead for Houston, and other cities with a similar problem, to build more music venues.

Go out tonight, and any night. Jukely is a concert subscription that gives members guestlist access to hundreds of music events – for one price. Whenever you want to go out, you’ll always have something to do. Learn more and sign up at jukely.com.