<\/p>\n
Ohio\u2019s smaller music venues aren\u2019t doing so hot, a new report says.<\/p>\n
Just 20 percent of Ohio\u2019s independent venues turned a profit last year, a study released Wednesday<\/a> by the National Independent Venue Association found. Nationally, that number is 36 percent.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a discouraging fact that underscores \u201cthe urgent need for solutions to ensure [venues\u2019] survival and sustainability,\u201d the group concluded.<\/p>\n NIVA\u2019s report comes about a year after Cleveland got its first Music Census Survey<\/a>, which found that the city\u2019s scene is\u2014besides being majority heterosexual, white, male and in need of a day job<\/a>\u2014searching for answers on how to better link burgeoning musicians with Cleveland\u2019s scattered array of local venues.<\/p>\n And how to simply sell more tickets. In both the 2024 Music Census and NIVA\u2019s report this October, figuring out how to really market a show and bring fans through the door is the top challenge for venues.<\/p>\n Which explains why so few venues in Ohio are turning a profit.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t shock me,\u201d Sean Watterson, the Happy Dog owner who helped spearhead the Music Census, told Scene.<\/p>\n The Happy Dog, which Watterson has run since 2008, has been in the black since the start of the pandemic, he said. The reasons aren\u2019t too far off from the struggles of retail: a population that isn\u2019t growing quickly; alcohol, music and property taxes that act as weights for smaller stages already operating on tiny margins.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, you combine all those factors,\u201d Watterson said, \u201cand you can see why we might be running behind national averages.\u201d<\/p>\n Larger music venues, the Jacobs Pavilions and Agoras, are often backed by corporate structures that help them stay in the red with stratagems only larger venues can carry out\u2014like big sponsorships, beefy ticket sales (and fees), VIP packages and steep food and drink prices (see: Blossom).<\/p>\n But those smaller stages, from the Little Rose Tavern to the Grog Shop, often have to rely on a delicate mix of local and nationally-known acts to keep the them from collapsing altogether. <\/p>\n Earlier this year, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame partnered with the Music Census\u2019 main backers and created a one-stop-shop music calendar called Hello Cleveland<\/a> as a way to get fans through the doors. Also, Cuyahoga LIVE!<\/a>, a county-led precursor to a Cleveland music commission, began its fact-finding stages in March, and will be moving forward this fall.<\/p>\n And this summer, State Sen. Kent Smith introduced Senate Bill 186<\/a> in the Statehouse, an act that could create a $10 million rebate fund to help struggling music venues around Ohio.<\/p>\n That proposed bill, currently rounding the Senate Committee, would allow venues under a 3,000-seat capacity to ask the Ohio Director of Development for up to $100,000 back from the taxes they paid on beer and wine.<\/p>\n For a place like the Happy Dog, which pays roughly $40,000 in alcohol taxes, that could mean rising out of the black in 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cThat would have been the difference between being profitable and not profitable,\u201d Watterson said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, this is not something where a bunch of quote-unquote \u2018rich venue owners\u2019 are getting fat off of tax rebates,\u201d he added. \u201cThis really is sustainability for small businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n Similar rebate state programs to keep music scenes afloat have shown promise in cities such as Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee.<\/p>\n If passed and signed by Gov. DeWine, venues in Cleveland could apply for such a rebate as early as September 1, 2026.<\/p>\n As a whole, the hundreds of independent stages across Ohio help contribute\u2014directly and indirectly\u2014about $1.5 billion to the state\u2019s GDP, the report reads. That\u2019s roughly $122 million in tax revenue.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have known for years\u00a0that Ohio\u2019s independent venues are gathering places, community anchors, and economic development\u00a0catalysts,\u201d Smith wrote in a statement to Scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n The NIVA findings, he said, \u201cconfirm the importance of these businesses as key contributors to both the quality of life and our tax base.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\nRelated<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n