08 May Journalism Investigation CW1_80 Izabel Rose – Why are London’s nightlife venues closing down?
London’s nightlife scene may always seem luxurious and exciting for a top-rated night out but, since a finding by the Mayor’s office in 2016, its displayed that the number of nightclubs in the UK capital has halved over the past 5 years.
Large numbers of nightclubs around London are continuing to shut down with many different reasonings into why. Research from London’s Assembly suggests that from the 430 music venues trading between 2007 and 2015 only 245 of then are still open, making it clear there is a 56.98% drop in nightlife venues, with the increasing number of young people and students starting off in the big city why is there such a decrease in millennials hitting up the local nightclubs?
London is called the hub for young people and students from across the globe, with 1.69 million millennials living in the city says the parliament research brief and the Mayor Sadiq Khan describing the city as “Our capital, the most visited city of the world. And culture is the number one reason people come here.” With social media being at the centre of young people lives, having a deep connection with one’s phone is more attractive than a deep connection with the dance floor. It’s thought millennials all around London would rather stay in with their mates on their devices then pay money on a good night out. Medical student Sarah backs this up “Why would I spend loads of money going out when I can have the same experience online for free”. A study with 10 18-25-year olds living in London saw that 70 percent of them have a night out budget of under £20 per month and 80 percent of them being more attracted to a cinema night out or adventure golf experience, than dancing the night away. These statists demonstrate young people’s distance with the nightlife scene, making more of a demand for interactive nights like cinemas, inside adventure golf and fine dining experiences. This change in social behaviour for young people may have sprouted from the encouragement of social media, granting more of a need for socialisation which possibly is leading to this nightlife decline. Drama student Zara aged 20 sniggers on the whole club night out idea “I find these days, it’s a complete waste of money I end up going out to socialise with my friends and end up not speaking a word, spending over £50 and waking up the next day regretting everything. I feel clubs need to address the new social aspects of our lives.” This change in social behaviour for young people should take a toll on the nightlife industry in London as they figure out ways to bypass it and change their ways to fit their audiences.
Rathbone Pl, nightclub called the Roxy, DJ of the venue and medical student Kristen Raphael suggests that “young people have much more of a diverse range of music, it’s much more rewarding to get people dancing now”. From a study by Ticketmaster suggesting that 1 in 6 people in the UK have attended a dance event since 2012 alongside a personal questionnaire stating that 9 out of 10 young people only go out dancing once every month it’s very clear the nightlife scene is changing and young people are becoming interested in different styles, genres and activities. But are nightlife venues following this change? UK Hun a top London promotion company demonstrates that venues aren’t accommodating to different styles of music “there are venues that have really strict policies on music, as in atmosphere wise, they don’t allow underground music to be played and they don’t like the underground culture and what comes with it”. It could be possible that the influx in club closures could be due to the owners not listening and accommodating their new minded audience. But from this could lead to the rave culture in London being scrapped completely.
In a 2018 article the Guardian estimated that £200 has been wiped off the value of the nightclub scene over the past 5 years, one top established club and popular venue called Astoria, located at 157 Charing Cross Road closed down on January 15th, 2009. Sold in a compulsory purchase by the Crossrail development, when speaking to a regular DJ Sean who performs at neighbouring Roxy nightclub he states “there used to be many venues around here, Astoria, Frog and Metro. They’ve all closed now, and the Crossrail really ripped the heart out of this area. I miss having the other clubs around.” With many of the nightlife clubs and bars having very poor protection over the legal logistics within venues, parts of the industry were easily brought on the market to developers within London. Another music venue, Passing Clouds in Dalston founded in 2006 by Eleanor Wilson foresaw a closure in 2016 as there was a huge lack of legal protection over the venue. For Passing Clouds closure it saw 2000 protesters march on September 2016 and 30 music venues around the city held a minute’s silence for support. With an increasing quantity of building developers looking for land to build on, it’s sprung an urgent issue for the culture heritage that London is known for.
Not only do nightclub venues face being sold on the development market, they face many different changes within licencing codes and regulations creating a hard to solve problem within the nightlife scene. The licencing act of 2003 was put into place, effective from 2005 being promoted to make things simpler yet brought paranoia towards British citizens and the over-assumption of anti-social behaviour in London’s nightlife. Major club Fabric located on Charterhouse Street, saw two drug related deaths within their venue, sparking a revoke in their licensing forcing the nightclub to shut down on September 7th, 2016. Incidents like these are why licences for venues are become stricter and stricter, and with it being incredibly easy for neighbours to file a compliant and cause destress over weekend nights out clubs are finding it impossible to fight back. UK Hun comments “I’ve got residents left right and centre telling me about this venue that’s closed down that venues that’s also closed, and it’s difficult to watch”. Fabric was able to reopen their door on November 21st, 2016 with more rules being put in place for party-seekers one including that the minimum age would rise to 19 years old. Stricter regulations on nightclubs may be one cause into why young people are put off the idea and possibly why many nightclubs are struggling to continue trading and functioning as normal.
Another venue Vibe Bar, Brick Lane saw closure in November 2014 as the former owner Alan Miller being aware of the licencing changes and wanting to avoid these issues, he comments “Venues and licensees understandably fear additional attention and pressure from authorities. After all, we’re reminded by more vocal officers that we can be subject to a “review” of our licenses at any time, threatening the existence of our clubs and bars.” on Vice. London’s current mayor suggests in the public consultation report “I want to make London the world’s leading light for nightlife. But to do this we’ve got to keep everyone happy. That means balancing the needs of those who work at night, those who want to party and those who just want a good night’s sleep.” In an interview with Ricky Sahota who founded and runs Subconscious Records a music record label that organises London events, he said “I use to play at a venue called The Nest in Dalston, after the closure of 20 clubs out of the 40 that were around there, we fought to stay open with a re-brand and total change in venue, yet still the council tax pressure and licensing regulation forced us to shut our doors.” These forever changing regulations and rules within the licencing codes could lead to the decline of night time ravers around the city contrasting on the mayor’s theory, making the nightlife scene slowly drop out of young people’s agenda entirely.
Even though Sadiq Khan argues the night time industry brings £26.3 billion to Londons economy every year, the nightlife culture is changing in, many venues are being forced to close down or re-think their business’ and it’s clear that social media has a part to play. Will the nightclub scene go out the window entirely? Will the old-fashioned rave days be a thing of the past as millennials find different culture trends to dive into? Or will the venues of London listen to the needs of their audience and change up the current party nightlife scene?
