The underground live music scene in Barcelona will receive protection from the council under the new "live culture spaces" category.
The Barcelona City Council has announced the creation of the Espais de cultura viva (live culture spaces) venue classification to protect its small live music venues, allowing flexible capacity limits and relaxing sound restrictions.
The council has finalised work on the category, which applies to spaces with a capacity of up to 150 people that host a minimum of 40 live music events or other live performances a year.
The category, which does not exist in other Spanish cities, allows venues to have a flexible capacity limit. Low-capacity venues with a cafe or bar license will be able to let in a greater number of people for live events, without fear of receiving fines.
A further modification sees the creation of a "semi-acoustic music" category. Previously, small venues could only programme acoustic music events. Concerts involving electronic instruments required soundproofing equipment, unaffordable for many venues even with a state subsidy.
The new category will allow for electronic instruments to play up to a volume of 95 decibels, given that outside noise does not exceed 45 decibels.
Posted on: 14/02/2019Categories: News from IQ Magazine
