Melbourne is widely known as one of the world’s great music cities, and has more live music venues per capita than any other city in the world (Melbourne Live Music Census Report 2017).
City of Melbourne is home to a large number of these venues and this dataset provides a list of dedicated live music venues, and other venues and spaces which present live music, in the municipality.
City of Melbourne provides a range of marketing opportunities for businesses and events to promote themselves. Let us know about any upcoming promotions, activations or events by completing our content submission form. Content submitted is considered for promotion across our digital and social media channels including Facebook, Instagram, the What’s On blog and the What’s On newsletter.
About 20 per cent of Victorians have a disability. If your premises are not accessible, you may be missing out on significant numbers of potential customers.
Check out Accessibly, a location review platform for people with a disability, creating a barrier-free world in which every individual can fully participate in society with their friends, families and communities. The platform aims to help position Melbourne as a truly accessible global destination. Accessibly is a participant of CoM X, our Accelerator Program run in partnership with RMIT Activator and The Hub.
The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) is the independent statutory authority that regulates Victoria's gambling and liquor industries.
Read an update on the freeze on late-night liquor licences for live music venues with 500 capacity.
Find Best Practice Guidelines, Good Music Neighbours, accessibility resources and more.
Find out what you need to start, run and grow your business, and what support is available from the City of Melbourne.
If you are organising a public or private event in the city, have a read of our Event Planning Guide - it contains information on event permits, event plans and how to run a sustainable event.
When starting out and planning your venue, these are the things you need to be aware of:
If you use music at your event you will need a licence. These organisations are involved in protecting copyright holders:
City of Melbourne's online marketing and social media channels can be used for the promotion of events as well as our What's On website.
For more information on the range of ways an event can be marketed in the City of Melbourne visit Our marketing campaigns and Social media and online marketing.
Contact us through liquor enquiries to find out which permit you need to sell alcohol.
Our planning fact sheets include guidelines and conditions for licensed premises.
Face-to-face responsible serving of alcohol training is mandatory for licensees and staff selling, offering or serving liquor for general, on-premises, late night and packaged liquor licences. For more information, visit the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation.
If you already have a liquor licence holder the Melbourne Licensees Forum gives licensees operating within the heart of Melbourne the chance to meet and discuss their issues of concern with local authorities and with each other. The forum is attended by representatives from the City of Melbourne, Victoria Police, Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Australian Hotels Association and Liquor Licensing Victoria.
Melbourne has one of Australia’s best night scenes and City of Melbourne wants to continue to promote the vibrancy of Melbourne as a 24-hour city. However, noise associated with pubs and clubs can sometimes affect residents.
A balance is needed between the expectations of residents to have a good night’s sleep and the ability of a venue to run a successful business. All premises that are licensed to serve alcohol are obliged to respond quickly and positively to resolve complaints with neighbours.
Victoria Police have power under the Environment Protection Act 1970 to instruct a venue to abate any entertainment noise after midnight. These directions stay in force until 8am.
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Victoria developed the Victorian environment protection policy (Control of music noise from public premises, No. N-2). While not directly enforceable as legislation, noise requirements based on this policy are often included in a venue's liquor licence or planning permit.
Smoking and the display and sale of tobacco products are prohibited at underage music and dance events. All people who are at the event are prohibited from smoking, including adults and young people.
This law does not affect parties held at private residences.
If a person under 18 smokes, they will not be guilty of an offence but the person in charge of the event will be required to request that the young person stops smoking. If a person aged 18 years or over smokes, they may receive a fine or be prosecuted.
The person in charge of the event may receive a fine or be prosecuted if they themselves smoke, do not display 'no smoking' signage, or display and sell tobacco products.
You can make your business more accessible to all. Download the accessibility checklist:
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