Beyond the problems already faced by pubs in insurance, live music venues are experiencing their own crisis, as insurance providers skyrocket premiums or remove policies altogether.
Operators are facing exponential increases to their premiums, while others report attempting to renew long-standing policies only for them to be cancelled.
The Leadbeater Hotel in Richmond was recently forced to close and cancel performances, as it was tipped into a long hunt for a new provider when its renewal was rejected, in May, and the only readily available option a premium was 10 times the amount of last year.
The Australian Live Music Business Council (ALMBC) is the voice of thousands of venues operating live music in Australia, and says at least 30 venues around the country are currently struggling with insurance renewals.
The problems are seen as part of a current trend taking place in the events and liability insurance market. There are increasingly few insurers interested in offering services to the sector, after what are seen to have been consistent losses over years.
But the ALMBC suggest the reluctance is influenced by long-running misconceptions about risks associated with live music venues, which have only gotten worse through COVID-19.
ALMBC GM Phil Brown describes small-to-medium venues as the “incubators” of Australian musical talent, and says the Council is using data collected on venue claims histories to argue they are not a high-risk environment.
“[It] goes to this really tired assumption that a live music venue is full of sex, drugs, and rock and roll,” Brown told AAP.
Live music venues have reportedly been given the choice to be a pub without the performance, or become a performance venue, meaning operation is restricted to during ticketed shows.
A solution is not easily forthcoming, but the ALMBC is working with businesses to find overseas insurers, and with stakeholders in music and insurance, to design a public liability policy it hopes will not only be able to provide coverage for those without, but ultimately reduce the cost of premiums.
