Music venues may be either privately or publicly funded, and may charge for admission. An example of a publicly-funded music venue is a park bandstand; such outdoor venues charge nothing for admission. A nightclub is a privately-funded venue; venues like these often charge an entry fee to generate a profit. Music venues do not necessarily host live acts; disc jockeys at a discothèque or nightclub play recorded music through a PA system.

Characteristics

Music venues can be categorised in several different ways. Venues can either be permanent or temporary, be situated outdoors or indoors or play host to live or recorded music. Music venues may be the result of private or public enterprises. Many venues only allow acts of one particular genre; jazz clubs only allow jazz musicians, and opera houses generally host only operas. Music venues can be categorised by size and capacity; a small nightclub will often have a much smaller capacity than that of a stadium.

The majority of music venues are permanent; however, temporary music venues do exist. An example of a temporary venue would be one constructed for a music festival.

Music venues are either outdoor or indoor. Examples of outdoor venues include bandstands and bandshells; such outdoor venues provide minimal shelter for performing musicians and are usually located in parks. A temporary music festival is typically an outdoor venue. Examples of indoor venues include public houses, nightclubs, coffee bars and stadia.

Venues can play live music, recorded music, or a combination of the two, depending on the event or time of day. A characteristic of virtually every live music venue is that one or more stages are present.

History

Opera houses

main: Opera house An opera house is a theatre constructed specifically for opera. The first opera house was the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice, Italy, which opened in 1637. An opera house generally has a spacious orchestra pit, where a large number of orchestra players may be seated at a level below the audience.

Bandshell and bandstands

main: Bandshell A bandshell is a large, outdoor performing venue typically used by concert bands and orchestras. The roof and the back half of the shell protect musicians from the elements and reflect sound through the open side and out towards the audience.

Jazz club

main: Jazz club Jazz clubs are an example of a venue that is dedicated to a specific genre of music.

Public houses and nightclubs

main: Nightclub

Concert hall