Chicago Sun-Times: Chicago’s independent music venues have been putting on a good show lately. Relative newcomer The Salt Shed is selling out most shows and leaning into an onsite music village concept with a record store, guitar shop and food trucks. Meanwhile, Wrigleyville stalwart Metro is unparalleled with its rare club showcases from bands like Metallica and Green Day.
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It’s too bad that more music venues aren’t profitable. In today’s world, the economics of live music are all over the place, with big ticket monopolies battling with the government for control over revenue and the music industry changing at such a rapid pace, it makes sense that venues, especially indie music venues, are feeling some pressure. Indie music has historically been more about “art” than it is about success and profit, but I think that’s more so due to indie music never being widely successful or profitable. If indie music was as popular as pop music, rock and roll, or rap we’d be having an entirely different conversation. But indie music’s tendency to cater to smaller crowds, more intimate venues, and its lack of driving base lines, techno beats, or catchy lyrics has certainly cemented its place as an underground scene. With that in mind, I think it’s great that there are so many indie music venues in a city like Chicago, but their failure is just a symptom of the tumultuous music landscape as a whole. My recommendation wouldn’t be to focus on things like food catering and THC-infused drinks (which are gimmicky and probably cause a lot more trouble than they’re worth) but to put every effort into creating the best live music listening experience possible and optimizing business to at least break even and continue the vital action of spreading indie music. Either way I don’t have much of a horse in this race but ultimately I think the more opportunities to see live music the better.
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