Late Licence vs Clubs

[ChrisPointon 0]

Just had an email from a friend (Ex Dj) who now runs a club. His once successful Saturday nights have been hit badly by the introduction of the late licence, which allows a lot of town center pubs to stay open until 2AM and beyond.

 

A lot of the problem, is down to the fact that he is out of town, and previously relied on trade from the pubs in the many local villages and towns to arrive at the club between 11 - 12 when the pubs traditionally kicked out

 

Obviously with the pubs now being able to have their own entertainment, and to serve until the early hours, they trade is remaining in the pubs and his business is being hit, to the point where he may have to close the nights altogether.

 

Has anybody else experienced a drop in club attendance, since the late licence was introduced?. What, if anything, are the clubs doing about it?.

[jamminroadshow 0]

I live in Stoke and there is little left of the Club life all the main players have gone out of business and this is because people can drink in the place that they are so there is no reason to go to a Club that charges more than everyone else for drinks.

 

Its a Shame but thats life i suppose

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

QUOTE

Has anybody else experienced a drop in club attendance, since the late licence was introduced?. What, if anything, are the clubs doing about it?.

 

Yes there is a drop at a lot of clubs...

 

the trick is to offer somthing people want and the typical Clone high street clubs cant do that... they are playing the same music as the Pub DJs and the Drink prices are less.. there is also no charge to get into most pubs...

 

Time for these Clubs to Evolve into somthing with class , decent music before its all too late.....

 

[C.S 0]

Marky

QUOTE

decent music before its all too late.....

 

 

And who decides whats decent music and whats not ...... if you stick to one certain type of music then you narrow your audience and therefore you earning possibilities.

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

QUOTE

if you stick to one certain type of music then you narrow your audience and therefore you earning possibilities

 

 

works both ways... if you play different kinds of music people will avoid the place in search of a place that plays what they like...

 

if they all play the same bits of everything then there is no reason the leave the pub your already in....

 

in my home town there is a bar that plays only house music... its full all night till closing..

 

there is a yates,RSVP a litten Tree, envy night club and 2 or 3 other places playing cheesey stuff... they are fighting over the people and bar takes are down...

 

there is the Agincourt that plays indiee / rock.. its full all night as the other venues dont play that kind of thing..

 

round the corner is el picante.. £3 a pint and latin house music all night , full to bursting point on a weekend....

 

and still the other pubs and clubs are strugling to make money....

 

why? becuase they dont have a style or identity.. they are generic.. same music each week, no imagination.. they are there to sell alcopop to teenagers

 

and the public are voting with there feet..

 

 

 

 

 

[Dukesy 0]

I believe age is a strong variable among all the other factors.....as MM rightly indicated with his analogy.

[C.S 0]

Fair enough as long as you are in a town with a fair sized population

[ChrisPointon 0]

I thought that a lot to do with it was the price of drink. Since Weatherspoons opened here, all of the local pubs are virtually empty, even the ones which have some form of entertainment http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/533.gif . Weatherspoons don't even have a jukebox, yet it is filled to the brim with the 18-35 age groups every Friday and Saturday night.

 

The club i'm using as the reason for starting this topic, is a well established venue, having been around since it was a dancehall in the early 60's. Several generations of families have used it as social outlet for years and given it's almost "Titty Twister" like location (in the middle of nowhere), it has a very loyal cult-like following or at least it had http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/rolleyes.gif . The venue even bought some minibuses and employ drivers to run a free bus service from the car parks of the local village pubs and the town centers taxi ranks so no excuse for drink driving or expensive taxis!. It was a good lucrative business model and it worked well for years.

 

I worked there for two years in 2002 - 2004, I also did a spell in 1994 - 1995, even in the middle of winter it got capacity crowds. Admission is fairly reasonable at £3 (free b4 10.30), and drinks are priced the same as the local town and country pubs - no £4 a pint inflation here!. The guy who now runs it was a mobile DJ for almost 30 years, its not like he's a new fresh faced manager from the local 'tec' with no prior experience of music or club work.

 

It is a proper club rather than a pub-with-a-disco, it's not overly huge with a capacity of about 350 so we are not talking about filling it with 1000+ punters. Music style is cheese and commercial dance, anything beyond Dj Sammy or Scooter or Cafe Del Mar (at the time I was there) and they are lost and you get an empty dancefloor and bemused looks - they aren't that sort punter or crowd and there are no specialised clubs in the area to "educate" them.

 

The clientele age group is late teens / early twenties young farmers type audience as shown in the photo

 

http://www.dj-community.co.uk/ultimate/W6.jpg

 

The only thing which has changed is the opening hours of the local pubs, and it seems that many of these punters now perfer to visit a pub function room with a Mobile DJ, than a club setting with resident DJ!. I suppose the topic could be titled "Is the club scene as we know it under threat?"

 

I just find it strange that young adults in the above age group, seem to prefer the almost function like disco in the pub atmosphere over a proper club, even where transport is laid on for free and the bar prices are the same as their "local".

 

I could understand it if a shiny new leisure complex had opened or an all night rave, but it hasn't, and Jammin somewhat comfirms that even the city centres are suffering.

 

Perhaps an end to club culture in the UK as we know it?, more especially when the new fangled noise laws apply to nightclubs in 2008!.

[Dukesy 0]

What about the noise law in the other types of venues we mobile jocks work Chris?

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

Chris...

 

Club looks dark and dirty... kinds in t shirts and girls in school uniform...

 

no wonder they are struggling to attract people...

 

The transition to a more french/italian/spanish way of going out is taking place..

 

Go clubing in italy and people dont go out till late... they then spend time looking good in a bar, they dont want to get all hot and messy...

 

then onto a club to dance untill the sun comes up. but only if the place feels right.

 

the typical english flea pit night club scean is on its way out and I hope it goes forever.

 

being cramed into a hot messy place with lots of drunk teenagers is not my idea of fun..

 

having to think about where your going to sit or stand becuase somone might be about to throw up on you or start a fight becuase they cant handle there vodka...

 

The club scean has matured.. the real clubers are older.. and want more for there money...

 

clean venues

 

being able to by a glass of wine not just a bottle of pop or beer

 

quality sound not ear bursting distortion with no bass becuase all the drivers have poped....

 

door staff who look neat and tidy and not asking the girls to get there breats out...

 

there is a Club with a long history thats located just out side of a town near here also, called "pantiles"

 

they dont seem to have a problem providing the above... and more...

 

they also charge more than the night clubs in the town and this hasnt hurt them one little bit...

 

infact it helps as the drunks and dare i say it chav's dont venture up there becuase its too much money and the door staff are snobby about who they let in..

 

this attitude makes the club the place to be.. and as such people want to be there rather than just in town with the drunks

 

we could argue the pros and cons of this approch all day but in time the market will wake upto the fact that if they want to make money they need to become specialist not just generic...

 

 

 

 

 

[ChrisPointon 0]

QUOTE

What about the noise law in the other types of venues we mobile jocks work Chris?

 

Thats already happening Dan (hell we sound like two american talk show hosts) http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/smile.gif

 

What you'll see, is the introduction of those devices of the Devil - namely the Sound Limiters creeping into venues which previously didn't have / need them for local council regs or due to local complaints.

 

In order to protect bar and waiting on staff, venues will be fitting limiters to their function rooms to ensure no legal action is brought against them by staff in the future and that new working limits are strictly adhered to.

 

So next time you work in a pub / hotel miles from the nearest house or residential area and wonder why it has a limiter fitted, you'll know why!. I reckon most venues will have this form of forced (and hated) control system installed by this time next year. I hope I am wrong, but bookmark this post and refer back to it in time!.

 

QUOTE

kinds in t shirts and girls in school uniform

 

Sorry Marc, forgot to mention that it was a Valentines School Disco theme night!.

 

But i'll pass your other suggestions on, or invite the owner to read the thread.

 

 

QUOTE

we could argue the pros and cons of this approch all day but in time the market will wake upto the fact that if they want to make money they need to become specialist not just generic...

 

I guess part of the post is looking to help him out with suggestions, so please keep em coming and discuss it in as much depth as you like!. Positive or negative.

[Dukesy 0]

I personally believe that entertainment venues will be looking for long term stability and will actually offer more than just specifics in order to survive.

Guess we will find out next summer, eh?! http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/smile.gif

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

QUOTE

I guess part of the post is looking to help him out with suggestions, so please keep em coming and discuss it in as much depth as you like!. Positive or negative.

 

would be happy to chat to the man about the situation and maybe offer some ideas he could use

 

there is a club in essex that used to do typical sharon and tracy week night stuff. cheesy music , lots of beer and alco pops and the attendance was steady but only average comapired to the other local venues..

 

they decided to change things a little and put a dance night on.. refitted the club made a real effort to convay there diferences and point out that this was now a classy venue unlike the other local places..

 

this club now run at capacity every friday and saturday night. and have a que out side.. also with less trouble from the punters and a bigger bar take...

 

one of the local bars decided to do somthing along the same lines.. and now brand them selfs as a 70's/80's bar... no modern music

 

this again now runs at full capacity as sees very little trouble...

 

however the other bars and clubs are all the same cheesy pop music type places with lots of hastle all fighting for the left overs and not doing so well...

 

2 or 3 years down the line it could all be diferent but if these bar owners keep ontop of whats going on out there they can change to acomodate this..

 

Location is not as important as people make out.. if its going to be a good night ive been known to drive the entire length of the M1 to get there and enjoy my time....

 

other people will do the same if you can garantee them what they want...

 

 

[ChrisPointon 0]

Thanks for your input Marc, will email the thread URL and your invitation to chat with him.

 

I don't think he's got anything to lose by looking at new formats, but at the end of the day its his decision. Knowing how successful the place once was and the effort he put in, i'd hate to see the potential get buried.

 

Knowing that we had Dj's working clubs on here, I thought it would be good idea to get other ideas, & formats and look at the situation from other angles etc.

 

If anybody has any other promotion ideas or suggestions then please post them here!.

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

QUOTE

Knowing how successful the place once was and the effort he put in, i'd hate to see the potential get buried.

 

no one likes to see somthing they worked on so hard fail...

 

but its also somtimes hard to see the wood from the trees when your on the inside..

 

like wise its easy for somone who is on the out side to say spend the money on this and that and not fully apreciate the costs and limmits of a sensible budget and modern bussines..

 

I look forward to having a chat with him and we can all learn from this...

 

 

 

[RichardP 0]

Probably sounds a bit overly scientific, but what if this chap got a few attractive staff to go around at peak bar time and do a bit of a survey? i.e. go around the bars & pubs asking specific-target-audience-type punters if they plan to visit his club later and...

 

... if not why not

... what if anything don't they like about going there

... what sort of music do they want to hear when they go clubbing

... what's the opinion of the DJs & staff at that club

... have they considered taking advantage of the minibus service

 

and perhaps something like:

... did they know about the latest promotion, that becks & bud are £1.50 before half ten

 

etc etc

 

http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/533.gif

[Steve_Mitchell 0]

QUOTE (Chris_Pointon @ May 15 2006, 01:23 PM)

If anybody has any other promotion ideas or suggestions then please post them here!.

Get Marky to DJ there for a night. He`ll pack them in. After he has been and given the place a good scrub.

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

QUOTE

After he has been and given the place a good scrub.

 

Dont do manual work any more sorry http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/tongue.gif

[ChrisPointon 0]

To be fair I can't disagree with a lot of what Marc's first impressions were of the club decor, even though it's only from a photograph, and its not the best quality but yes the inside of the venue is dark - the low ceiling gives the impression that its small but it is really fairly big.

 

All can do is to email the manager with the thread info, ask him to read it and take on board the comments constructively along with your offers to help. I know a lot of people on here are experienced in their chosen fields hence the thread!. If I didn't value your opinions I wouldn't spend hours typing asking for them http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/smile.gif. So, thanks! you haven't disappointed me with your willingness to share advice http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/thumbup.gif

 

He does also run a successful Under 18's club night and a 70's / 80's night too, as well as a rock night and trade is pretty good and brisk here - it's just the general Saturday Night Trade which has been hit badly, forcing him to close it.

 

@ Richard P, it's been 2 years or perhaps a little more since I last worked there, so i'm going off how the venue was running then. However the Bar Staff were of the same age as the clientele', they paid and treated their staff well but they did have a high staff turnover at the time (probably students working part time). A colleague came up with several ideas such as Birthday Mailings, Text Message promotions of cheap drinks etc, I don't know how much, if any of this was put into practice . The club has run drinks promotions, theme nights etc in the past along with the more usual free bottles of bubbly for hen parties etc but largely the clientele was the same week in - week out, and yes at one time you did get people making an effort and travelling to be there, maybe not great distances from London etc, but certainly 50 or 60 miles - which given it's location was a feat in itself!.

[BigBen 0]

I'm from Derby. It used to be known as the 'fun-pub' capital of England. At one time it seemed that every other building in the town centre had a dance-floor and a bar. It was a terrific night out. After closing you'd go to one of the nightclubs - The Pink Coconut, The Rockhouse, Confetti's or The Blue Note.

 

Then, an out of town nightclub opened, it was called Paradise. Strict dress code of shirt, tie and shoes. The bouncers adhered to this policy to the letter. Most punters arrived by taxi, but there was a big car park around the back and a free bus too.

 

It was by far and away the classiest venue in the area. You went there in your best gear, made sure your shoes were polished too and hoped you would be allowed in. It felt good to be in there with the upper echelons of local society. For years it was packed four nights a week - it was most certainly the only night-club I was interested in going to.

 

Then it got taken over and the new owners dropped its exclusivity. Before long the more exclusive clientele had moved on to pastures new and the place was filled with the kids pouring in from town.

 

Now I'm in Crewe...two nightclubs that are so bad I refuse to go to them. Give me Paradise anyday!

Edited May 15, 2006 by BigBen

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

Ben has seen what i mean first hand...

 

Its all about creating a reason to be there over the other options...

 

problem is when you lose that exclusive rep its nearly impossible to get back ever...

 

 

[C.S 0]

Marky you have a lot of good points BUT ,our club scene here is dying because people come out late , like 1 a m late, shorter time to get the takings in. Luckily Britain has a population of 70 million (?) . Norway is double the size of Britain but has a population of 4 million . Average towns are about 20 to 40 thousand people, you have to play everything or you have no punters. Specialist evenings once a month work but not every night. Unfortunately most europe has the same club attitude as the uk, open it and see how long you can milk it without doing anything.We have a smart dress code at our club its a very positive thing as it encourages a better kind of behaviour.

[Dave80s 0]

Sounds great! Give me a place like this over some carpet and chrome monstrosity anyday. Any venue where you have to wear shoes to get in is not my kind of place.

Who says dressing up attracts a better class of punter?

 

Reminds me of a club I used to frequent in Wigan, called 'Pemps'. Anyone heard of it?

Edited May 15, 2006 by Dave80s

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

QUOTE

Who says dressing up attracts a better class of punter

 

I do... and can prove it.. http://www.dj-forum.co.uk/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif

 

 

the population of this country is ageing... by this I mean there are less younger people each year to replace the people who move on in life...

 

CS I understand where your coming from but do you consider your audince to be captive... is there the option to travel to other towns to go clubing like in the uk?

 

as we all get older we expect more for our money, not in quantity but in quality don't you agree?

 

bars like yates, walkabout etc are on ever tighter budgets and the quality is not there.. these places will start to close down...

 

the clubs wll return to favor but only if they offer that something special and survive to pick up th people when the bars do close down...

 

[C.S 0]

Marky

QUOTE

CS I understand where your coming from but do you consider your audince to be captive... is there the option to travel to other towns to go clubing like in the uk?

 

 

Absolutely captive !, The nearest town with various clubs and a population over 40 thousand is a 1 hour flight from here or a 9 hour drive !

 

QUOTE

the population of this country is ageing... by this I mean there are less younger people each year to replace the people who move on in life...

 

With the size of the uks population it is very unlikely that this would be noticeable at this time, i would suggest however that the entertainment available to younger people is not good enough and a large percentage stay at home using the available media entertainmnts there ?

Edited May 16, 2006 by C.S