Owners of live music venues in Edmonton say times are tough and they’re looking for outside help to survive.
The Sewing Machine Factory is an all-ages venue in Mill Creek that opened eight years ago.
Owner Greg Doucet calls it a labour of love.
But the venue hasn’t fully recovered from the pandemic, going from five shows a week to just one or two a month, and Doucet says the business is on the verge of closing for good.
“Getting it started and off the ground was a very difficult task. So watching it possibly have to close is tough.”
Doucet says he’s listed the space online in hopes of finding someone new to take it over.
The Starlite Room is a longtime staple of Edmonton’s live music scene, but owner Tyson Boyd says it, like most other live music venues, makes money only from concessions.
“We were kinda in crisis before the pandemic, we’re definitely struggling post-pandemic. Yeah, it’s a pretty grim reality to be honest.”
Music industry expert Eric Alper says many new artists are turning to social media to launch their careers instead of live venues because they can reach more people.
“They’re a lot more craftier than the generation that came before them. They don’t necessarily need the music industry per say, in order to break it big,” he said from his Toronto office.
“I’ve got the biggest audience in the world at my fingertips, and usually in my pocket by way of my phone. I can be performing to people halfway around the world that will never ever get a chance to see me live, but can buy my music, they can stream my music, they can watch my videos.”
Boyd is hoping for some sort of help from outside the industry to help keep the doors open.
“Finding ways that we can be recognized as arts and culture, rather than for profit businesses reliant on concessions and alcohol.”
But it might already be too late for Doucet.
“I mean eight years in any business might be a success kind of thing right? I’ve seen a lot of places come and go in that time. So yeah. I definitely don’t think what we did was a failure.”
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jessica Robb