Last Saturday, I was rather spontaneously invited to moderate a panel on the state of the live music business at the Swiss Live Music Marathon in Basel. With Marion Meier, Marc Lambelet, and Simon Jaccard, there was a wealth of experience on stage.
But to me, musician Simon Jaccard shared a profound perspective: It’s a shared responsibility of both clubs and artists to keep live music venues alive. To Jaccard, this responsibility goes beyond simple promotion but expands to a true collaboration in experimenting with different event formats, like smaller listening sessions and fan participation that create unique experiences and build the community around artists and venues.
It’s a simplified view, but the traditional music club feels a bit like a car to me: A mode of transportation that, in fact, stands around parked 98% of the time. In an era of ever-shrinking opportunities, music venues’ biggest asset is space that remains empty most of the time as well.
So, I was excited to see alternative programming to concerts and parties, such as the “Drinks + Draw” at Salzhaus Winterthur. Music clubs as culture hubs, becoming a melting pot for interdisciplinary events.
Naturally, these exploration into not necessarily music-driven experiences have their own challenges, not least the demand for the harder-to-find staff. However, I recently spoke with a club representative who said anyone is more than welcome to organise and use the space.
But if clubs are serious about bringing in driven collaborators from the outside, especially from younger generations, they need to communicate that offer far more aggressively while keeping these opportunities accessible and attractive. A 20-year-old probably can’t take on a huge financial risk.
Headlines
Mouthwatering expands with booking division
Mouthwatering Records announced its new booking division, expanding the team with René Kunz (Le René) and Kristina Hofstetter (Gelato BusineZZ). The goal of the expansion is to “build a broader home for artists” according to the company’s Instagram post.
- Why it matters: After launching its sublabel, Home Crowd Recordings, Mouthwatering continues to grow into a—for Swiss proportions—indie music juggernaut, offering more of a 360-degree service for its artists.
- The wider trend: Switzerland’s indie business is concentrating. While companies like Young and Aspiring, Glad We Met, or Orange Peel have folded or scaled back significantly, the remaining players may grow.
- Clustering risk: Whilst more comprehensive package deals offer many advantages, they do pose a potential risk to the company. Dissatisfaction with a particular aspect may lead the artist to switch providers for all services at once.
City Parliament of Zurich rings alarm on venue closures
As reported by Tsüri, the City Parliament of Zurich sounded the alarm regarding the imminent closures of two mid-sized venues, Komplex 457 and X-Tra. In a rare moment of unity, the parliament has unanimously called on the City Council to secure new venues for Zurich’s music scene.
- Why it matters: As Switzerland’s largest city, Zurich is also the natural destination for international artists. In the absence of medium-sized venues, however, they tend to give Switzerland a wide berth. The fact that politicians have recognised the problem and that, for a moment, there is consensus across the political spectrum is an important sign.
- Critical thoughts: The problems facing clubs have been getting worse for years: the business model is broken, and economic pressure, coupled with gentrification, has created a toxic environment for club culture. Countermeasures in terms of spatial planning take years to implement. And venues of the scale that is now disappearing cannot simply be conjured up out of thin air. I fear that this motion is too little, too late. The city must act swiftly now to ensure that at least the smaller clubs survive.
WEMUSIC launches Apprenticeship & Music
Earlier this year, we reported on the WEMUSIC project, which aims to combine a music career with a foundational education. The model is already known in Switzerland’s education system as a combination of an apprenticeship and sports.
Now, the project moves into its pilot implementation. From 2027, talented young musicians will be able to undertake a basic commercial apprenticeship whilst developing skills tailored to the culture, music and events sectors. Music-friendly training organisations give young people the chance to combine their basic vocational training as a commercial clerk (EFZ) with their musical training.
- How you can help: WEMUSIC are still seeking music-friendly training organisations that train commercial apprentices and wish to take part in the pilot scheme. If you know a potential company that might be interested, you may contact WEMUSIC and connect them.
wemakeit Communities aims to be Switzerland's Patreon
The popular crowdfunding platform is launching its new offering „Communities“ on 16 September, copying the well-known continuous funding scheme popularised by Patreon. “Communities” takes a 10% commission from your total monthly payments.
- Critical thought: wemakeit is late to the game in an already saturated market. Aside from Patreon, membership and subscription programmes have been popping up for years: Substack, Ghost, Steady, Fourthwall, and Fanklub all offer tailored solutions for specific needs.