Grassrooots gig scene flourishes: Live Music Forum boss highlights reform of licensing laws as study points to healthy scene.(Live music)

Live Music Forum chairman Feargal Sharkey is convinced that new licensing laws hold the key to further boosting England and Wales's grassroots music scene.

The most comprehensive study yet into the sector reveals that, in the 12 months to June this year, an estimated 1.7m live music performances were staged across the country in the likes of pubs, clubs, student unions and other outlets whose main business is not staging music. Nearly half of the venues that could put on live music managed to hold at least one event during the year.

Sharkey believes there is the potential for those numbers to rise even further, as the existing public entertainment licence currently needed from the local authority to stage live music is axed next year and replaced with a more simplified licence combining live performances and alcohol sales.

"It will remove the complication of having to get a separate entertainment licence which is an extra cost--in some areas of England and Wales you're talking about thousands of pounds," says Sharkey. "It will make the whole process much simpler."

However, Sharkey and others face a tough task in explaining the new Licensing Act to venues which could potentially take live music, with the same study revealing an alarming level of ignorance about the regulation changes. According to the Mori poll which was commissioned by the Live Music Forum, just 20% of 756 venues questioned which had put on music in the past 12 months knew either "a great deal" or "a fair amount" about the new act. In comparison, 43% of the venues said they knew nothing about the act and 36% a little. The figures were similar among the 809 venues questioned not currently having live music.

Against the current limited knowledge of the act, around one-third of those currently putting on live music believe the new act will have a "positive" impact across their industry, as it will ...