THE NIGHTCLUB DECLINE- IS CASUAL CLUBBING BECOMING LESS POPULAR?

Research suggests over past few years, millennials seem to have less interest in casual night clubbing.

In the last seven years, the value of the UK nightclub scene has been wiped out by an estimated £250 million, as the enthusiasm for clubbing diminishes.

According to Mintel reports, the revenue for nightclubs declined 21%, down from £1.49 billion in 2010 to just £1.8 billion in 2015, reaching a further decline of 16% falling below the £1 billion mark to reach £982 million in 2020.

It was well predicted that the COVID-19 pandemic would have a significant impact on the decline in nightclubbing business, as clubs were among the last venues to re-open after restrictions were lifted.

Despite this, club owners remained positive that people would flock to the dancefloor as soon as they were given the green light.

But it seems after the novelty of freedom wore off, the lack of business in the nightlife sector became prominent as an estimated one in eight venues have disappeared since the pandemic struck, according to a Bloomberg report.

Whilst figures show that financially the nightlife industry has been struggling, it is depicted from a different angle by some industry experts.

Nath Brown, an up and coming DJ and music producer from Newcastle, who has supported a vast majority of world renowned house and techno artists in some major UK venues, spoke about his outlook on how the nightlife industry is changing.

Nath said “I don’t think clubbing is become less popular, I feel that the clubbing audience is being diverted into a new era of going out.

“People are more into the idea of going out for casual drinks during the day and being able to go home earlier. Whereas if you go clubbing you tend to arrive home early hours of the morning.”

Nath explained how government restrictions being introduced over the years may have caused issues for the smaller, more local venues. After being struck by the pandemic, many club policies require attendees to have a COVID vaccine passport or proof of negative lateral flow upon on entry to comply with government guidelines.

He said “Clubs have been massively effected since the 80’s acid house period.

“The government seem to always be against the idea of dance music, and began introducing restrictions such as music & alcohol license curfews, security, sniffer dogs etc.

“A large proportion of the smaller clubs cannot keep up with the demand of these restrictions which leads to issues like staff shortages, because the clubs resources are being used elsewhere”

Figures from a Mintel report have shown that big UK music events and festivals attendance is at the highest level it’s been in the last four years, with 43% of millennials (aged 20-39) attending a music festival in 2019, with a staggering 45% of all attendees’ reasons for visiting a festival being to see a particular artist.

Nath continued “Big music events are becoming increasingly more popular within the UK dance music scene.

“The idea of seeing 3-5+ of your favourite artists in the same night for around £30 (give or take) has grasped more casual clubbers into their ideal attraction.

“However, this does come at a great cost. Smaller clubs that can’t afford to pay upwards of £15K for superstar headline artists usually need to have younger, less known, and less experienced DJ’s on their line-up.

“It is extremely difficult to attract the same audience who want to see big name artists into the smaller clubs with less know DJ’s.

“Within my 12 year experience in the event industry, the trend of big events is growing, so with that understanding, myself and my team are striving to organise a major event in Newcastle for 2022.”

Some members of Parliament have cautioned that the “extinction” of nightlife could stymie the country’s overall recovery from the pandemic . According to a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Nightlife, nightclubs have only produced 20% of their pre-Covid revenue and have laid off more than half of their personnel since lockdowns began in early 2020.

The nightclub industry was one of the worst effected entertainment sectors by the pandemic alongside that of the Arts & Culture sector, receiving limited financial help from the government. Many experts in the field are led to believe this is the main reason clubs are struggling for business, and restrictions may have programmed regular clubbers into a more casual way of life.

Curtis Graham, DJ and owner of music event MODE UK said “I think night-life across the UK has taken a huge blow since pre-pandemic as so many predicted it would.

“This could be due to the “new normal” with people being used to going to pubs or house parties rather than going to town during the night.

“Many clubs and events are facing huge issues right now due to lack of custom which is getting worse by the week. This was always likely after the way lockdown restrictions were eased allowing people to go to pubs/restaurants but keeping nightclubs closed”

Despite this, Curtis explained that although the nightlife industry as a whole has taken dramatic damage recently, there are still certain events pulling huge numbers.

He added “Super-clubs like The Warehouse Project, Manchester and Printworks, London are still managing to put festival sized line-ups inside huge capacity venues”.

According to the  National Chief Police Council (NPCC) since the start of September 2021 there have been over 200 reports of drinks being spiked in clubs and bars around the UK. To heighten the matter, there have been over 25 reports of spiking’s in similar venues via some form injection. Many have voiced concern about their safety in and around nightclubs, which could be a contributing factor as to why we are seeing dancefloors so empty.

Ollie Read, a resident DJ and owner of Ill Disco, Birmingham, spoke about his experience of clubbing both from an artist and clubbers point of view.

He said “What puts me of clubbing is a venue that is full of people looking for trouble instead of going out to enjoy the music.

“People are being spiked way too often at the moment. As a DJ, I can see that clubs seem a lot moodier and the vibe has completely changed from what it was five years ago.

“There is also negative stigma around door staff abusing their power, or not doing enough to help in potentially dangerous situations, which can put a lot of people completely off the idea of even joining the queue for a club.

Although Ollie acknowledged that music events/festivals are more popular than club nights he admitted that he doesn’t prefer them saying “Bigger events always do better and have always been more popular among ravers as there are lot more music genres and lineups to please people.

“I don’t necessarily think big music events are better though. Speaking as a DJ, I think it’s a lot better to see an artist in a smaller club or venue, intimate vibes can’t be beaten”.

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