Red Stripe Guide to Live Music (Part 5): Making live music central to your offer

In this, our last look at putting on live music in pubs, we cast our eye back over what you need to make your hostelry the perfect spot to see live bands.

In the past few months, in association with Red Stripe lager, we've talked to licensees up and down the country who have years of hosting live music sessions to find out what it takes to create the right environment for live music in their pubs.

If you have been considering putting music acts in your own pub we hope that their experiences have helped you get a better idea of what's required.

Near the top of any tick-list there's the question of what kind of act you want to host - and where you find them - together with the sort of audience you want to attract.

Then there're the practicalities to consider:

• Do you have physical space to put bands on in?

• Can you soundproof the part of the pub where live music will be played?

• Do you have the minimum sound equipment that a band needs, or will they be required to bring their own?

• Have you reassured your neighbours that they won't be disturbed by the bands that play in your pub?

• Have you got your paper work sorted with both the local authorities and the relevant performance rights organisations?

• And can you market the gigs effectively enough to attract an audience?

These areas have been addressed in previous features and we trust you have found the advice on them useful. We'll soon be putting all the articles onto The Publican's website, www.thepublican.com, so you'll have everything at the touch of a button.

Benefits

While recent figures show that revenues from hosting live music in pubs are under the same sort of pressures as any other offer that attracts an element of cost, there is a long-term benefit for pubs hosting live music well.

One man who knows the part the pub can play in the live music scene is Feargal Sharkey, former frontman with punk legends The Undertones and now chief executive of music industry organisation UK Music (see panel, right).

Others who share his passion for live music, particularly in pubs, are the team at Red Stripe.

The lager, brewed by Wells & Young's in Bedford, has been synonymous with cutting edge music over the years, from its roots in the Jamaican reggae scene through to the punk era of the late 1970s and right up to today, with the brand keeping at the forefront of new bands through its Red Stripe Music Award (RSMA).

"Red Stripe has always been associated with music," says Jonny Kirkham, the brand's marketing manager. "Cut the brand in half and you'll see rock n roll. We are working right at the heart of grass roots music, that's festivals, pubs and bands, and we're achieving that."

For example, the 27 gigs that formed the heats for the RSMA were held in pubs and bars across the UK around the beginning of the year, born out of the desire to get the brand closer to the action.

"We targeted well-known music pubs for the RSMA heats," adds Paul Brazier, brand manager at Red Stripe, "and gave pubs free rein to look for bands. We want to help support the venue through our product and our experience in the music area."

But it's not solely about the bands, says Brazier. "It's also about the pub, the community which it serves and music having its 'say' at a local level." Adds Kirkham, Red Stripe "is a non-corporate, non-conformist brand with a similar spirit to the entrepreneurial licensee".

And even if your pub can't put on live bands, music can still play a part in your business through well-stocked jukeboxes, says Brazier, while retaining the connection with a beer brand like Red Stripe, that has music entrenched as part of its 'DNA'.

"At the end of the day we're interested in identifying live music pubs and explaining the benefits that would arise from stocking Red Stripe," he says.

"The brand can give your pub a point of difference. And Red Stripe has a role to play in pubs."