Clubs Farewell Music Red Tape

CLUBS FAREWELL MUSIC RED TAPE

Clubs are welcoming a decision by the NSW Government to remove the red tape that was strangling the live music industry, and creating huge costs for clubs wanting to host live music.

From Monday, clubs, hotels, and other public venues will finally be free of the red tape nightmare that was known as POPE (Place of Public Entertainment) licenses that local governments required before allowing a club to host live music.

Clubs last year spent almost half a million dollars just for the license alone to be able to provide live music to their members. Understandably, for small clubs this cost as well as the time many local councils take processing and granting POPEs, has been a huge disincentive to go ahead with hosting live music.

Clubs account for almost 70% of almost all live music in NSW, spending more than $52 million a year on live music.

Acting CEO of ClubsNSW Anthony Ball said it was small and medium sized clubs that would benefit the most from the scrapping of the POPE license for live music.

"POPEs are often extremely costly to obtain from council. One Sydney golf club was told by its council it would have to spend $300,000 redeveloping the club before it would be given its POPE license. Another club was threatened in writing that it would be prosecuted if it continued providing live music without a POPE license.

"Most clubs don't have the financial capacity to comply with council demands often running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. To fight the council requirements in court would be even more costly, all just to be able to allow a local muso to legally perform on a Sunday afternoon at the local bowling club.

"The State Government has listened to clubs who desperately want to host more live music, and decisively acted to stimulate the local live music industry.

"Indeed this is arguably the most significant decision ever for the local live music industry.

"Live music is the backbone of the NSW Club Industry, indeed it's the number one reason people give when joining a club.

"From Monday the public can expect to see more comedy acts, more singers, even more fundraisers in clubs. All these events have in the past been prevented by councils demanding clubs first pay for a POPE license as well as other expensive conditions that have absolutely no connection to live music." Anthony Ball said.

Media:
Jeremy Bath
0419-267-789

SOURCE: ClubsNSW