Dozens of Hunter pubs, clubs and theatres have taken up a government offer of cheaper licensing fees to encourage live music.
Liquor & Gaming NSW has published a list of 245 NSW venues, including 28 in the Hunter, which have claimed 80 per cent licensing fee discounts and longer trading hours in return for hosting live music.
The government said this week that 112 venues had joined the list since March 2023 as it worked to make live music more attractive to venue operators.
Hotel owner Mick Starkey said he had received an 80 per cent discount on his $9000 annual liquor licence fee at Customs House after applying for the incentive program.
He has also applied for the incentives at the Stag & Hunter Hotel at Mayfield.
"The reason they're on there is purely because of the discount," he said.
"We absolutely have live music and the discount for us is a way to pay our music licensing fees, which have gone through the roof.
"Live music is expensive. It's expensive to put on. It's expensive to support. When you look at returns per square metre in your venue, live music isn't a big one.
"This is where savings in licensing fees are a huge help to allow people to continue to support it."
Mr Starkey, the Australian Hotels Association Newcastle-Hunter branch president, said his licensing fees to the Australasian Performing Right Association and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society had tripled in the past three years.
"There's so many expenses now that are attributed to having live music that every little bit of assistance is helpful," he said.
"When you have live music your insurance goes up, your music licensing fees go up."
The government incentives include a two-hour bonus in opening hours on nights featuring live music, but Mr Starkey said some businesses, including his own, would not want to trade longer.
"It's mainly about the licensing fee," he said.
"The extended trading hours are really good, but we wouldn't take advantage of it because the market would determine whether we stay open or not.
"We have 3am licences anyway. We wouldn't extend past that regardless, but, if you're a midnight trader or a 10pm trader due to DA restrictions, you're well within your rights to get an extra couple of hours."
New laws passed in November also allow City of Newcastle to designate "special entertainment precincts" with "favourable" noise controls and later trading hours.
Mr Starkey said he would like to see such an entertainment zone stretching east from Perkins Street.
"I really want to be in the room when we're deciding where those precincts are going to be.
"The East End is just fit for a special entertainment precinct, whether it be live music, street performances, restaurants, a full hospitality mecca.
"And Beaumont Street is ready to go."
He said the industry and governments also needed to work on generating audiences.
"That's a difficult one. That's a cultural shift. Getting people off the couch is difficult."
He said the Stag had hosted three concerts under the government-backed Great Southern Nights program in the past fortnight and "probably lost $15,000 on them because we couldn't get the crowds".
The organisers of the major Splendour in the Grass festival outside Byron Bay cancelled the event on Wednesday due to "unexpected events".
The Hunter venues claiming live music incentives are: Adamstown Bowling Club, Bellbird Hotel, Belmont 16ft Sailing Club, Beresfield Bowling Club, Bradford Hotel (Rutherford), Bull and Bush Hotel (Medowie), Caves Beach Hotel, Cessnock Leagues Club, Cessnock Performing Arts Centre, Civic Theatre, Customs House Hotel, Edgeworth Bowling Club, Grand Hotel, Huntlee Tavern, Jam's Karaoke, Jewells Tavern, Lakeside Village Tavern (Raymond Terrace), Lizotte's, Newcastle Theatre Company (Lambton), Northern Star Hotel, Oriental Hotel, Rathmines Theatre, Seven Seas Hotel, Stockton Bowling Club, The Rogue Scholar, Toronto Hotel, Wallsend RSL.
