Rock music under threat as small venues go bust across Britain

It has been a weekend of Polish hip-hop and drum and bass at the Bongo Club. But even when you throw in the rock'n'roll ping pong, it won't be enough to save it.

One of Edinburgh's most popular small music venues, it has been the launch pad for bands from the Scissor Sisters to Kasabian who played here before they became stadium-sized acts playing to stadium-sized crowds. Yet this will be its last summer as the Bongo faces closure at the end of August, one of an increasing number of live venues across the UK shutting down.

"The frequency with which smaller venues are closing is scary," said Krissi Murison, editor of the music magazine NME. "There's the Charlotte in Leicester, TJ's in Newport, I could go on and on. It feels like not a week goes past without more closing."

Cardiff, Bristol, Belfast, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester as well as London have all seen small venues go under in the past year. "Big venue live music is thriving, but, due to smaller venues closing, in a few years' time we will no longer be producing the bands who have cut their teeth in the smaller venues," said Murison.

Towards the other end of the country, a campaign is also under way to save the Horn. The Horn, in St Albans, Hertfordshire, has been a live music venue since 1974 and a favourite of the late John Peel. For the band Friendly Fires, it was their leg-up. "It's a common saying that for a band to get good they have to play gig after gig after gig, and there is no substitute for playing to an audience," said Jack Savidge, the band's drummer. "With more and more small venues facing closure – the Horn is launching a 'save the Horn' campaign – it's becoming harder for new artists to do this."

The Horn's promoter, Hansi Koppe, said: "Things are extremely difficult at the moment and we're trying hard to put on the right acts. In good times people will go and see a new band just to hear what they're like. Now if it's a band nobody has heard of then people aren't so keen to pay the money to see them. They'd rather go and see a cover band down the pub where it's free. But that's not what we are about. We're a little rock'n'roll sweatbox: the vibe is second to none. We're trying to stay positive."

They are less positive at the Bongo. "We're really only the latest: there's been a spike in closures in Edinburgh, quite a substantial list of venues which is terrible for a capital city," said Ally Hill, the manager, despondently. "Playing places like this is the groundwork bands need, the stepping stone. And even when they've made it big, live music needs every rung in the ladder it can get.

"We employ between 30 and 50 staff. This is a small venue but it's a mini-music industry. It's not just bands who cut their teeth here but sound and lighting engineers, promoters, even bar staff. And the irony is that we're well-loved and successful, financially and culturally." The Bongo is closing because Edinburgh University, which owns the site, wants it back to build offices. A search for a new site for the club has failed. "The bottom line is that those that could help just don't value venues like ours," said Hill.

Comedian Mark Thomas called the imminent closure "an act of cultural self-harming" on the city's part.

The crisis in live music, which employed 44,000 people before the financial crisis struck in 2008, was given official recognition in the government's coalition agreement, which promised to "cut red tape to encourage the performance of more live music".

The Live Music Act comes into force in October and will ease restrictions on pubs and small clubs with a crowd capacity below 200. Murison listed a number of reasons why clubs are closing: "First there's rising rents; the recession has been an issue – people had a bit more disposable income a few years ago. I imagine there's a huge amount of bureaucracy involved in getting a live music licence; and there are other factors such as complaints about noise pollution. It's possible that people are less willing to put up with noise near where they live nowadays.

"Live music is increasingly important to bands now. A band used to go on tour to promote their album; now they put an album out to promote their tour. The tour is where they make their living." City centres becoming increasingly re-populated has been an issue in Cardiff, which has just seen the Barfly close, the third venue is the past few months.

"It's a major problem – venues are closing all the time," said Cardiff-based promoter John Rostrum. Promoters often won't promote in the smaller venues because we can't lose money every night. The increase in VAT has been a big thing for small venues. It's really hit the smaller shows that we do. There are also particular local issues that have affected live music in Cardiff such as complaints about noise in areas where new flats have been built near music venues."

"Because there's less money in the grass roots of the music industry, bands are having to get the most out of their shows. Before there was tour support from the record label, but now the record label isn't prepared to invest in the tour. Once there's no money from the record label, live music on a small scale is no longer viable. Barfly going was a real indication that the money had gone."

For many musicians the small venue is crucial, not only for getting those first steps into the industry – somewhere where they can pick up new fans and maybe even catch the ear of an A&R man – but also for established bands to try out new material.

The Horrors bassist, Rhys Webb, said: "The main thing about a venue is the atmosphere and how rooms create the atmosphere. The larger the room the less atmosphere you can get: they turn into leisure centres. It's especially important for new bands, because they still need to do that, even with smaller crowds.

"You can't get the same intimacy when you make the room a little bit bigger and the ceiling a bit higher. Small venues are where the exciting stuff happens: you've got to have those places for bands to start. You can't beat having the audience right there in front of you."

There are places I remember …

The Marquee: closed

The Rolling Stones played their first formal gig on 12 July 1962 at the Marquee in Oxford Street, London, which had opened four years previously. Two years later it moved to Wardour Street. It eventually closed in 1996.

The Cavern: closed

Brian Epstein first saw the Beatles play at the Cavern club in Liverpool in November 1961, shortly after the band's shows in Hamburg. The club closed in 1973. In April 1984 it was rebuilt to closely resemble the original.

Boardwalk, Manchester: closed

Oasis played their first live gig here in August 1991. The Stone Roses, the Happy Mondays and the Charlatans all played on the venue's opening night in 1986. It closed in 1999.

King Tut's, Glasgow: open

Oasis famously signed their first contract at King Tut's, which also hosted the earliest gigs of Blur, Franz Ferdinand, Travis and Coldplay. Singer-songwriter Tom McRae loved the venue so much he produced a live album, Tom at Tut's.

100 Club, London: open

Punk bands including the Sex Pistols and Siouxsie and the Banshees, pictured, started out here. Later the club ushered in the indie era with a 1992 gig by Suede. It was saved from closure last year by a sponsorship deal.