Arts Council England Pilot with East of England Music Education Hubs
Soundcheck Sessions offer young people (aged 14+) the chance to access a venue before doors open, to watch an artist soundcheck and sit through a Q&A with them along with some of the crew and venue team.
Venues can be seen as the domain of over 18’s and often not somewhere suitable for anyone younger. On the contrary, venues are vital creative hubs of their local communities and are keen to welcome young people in.
Many venues are constrained by licencing restrictions. Quite frequently, under-18’s are not permitted in a venue from 7pm, or from whenever their bar is officially open. What Soundcheck Sessions facilitates is a constructive way to circumvent this restriction and introduce young people to the magic of watching live music as well as learning more about the live music industry.
Young people are invited into the venue, to watch the soundcheck. They are also given the opportunity to hear from the venue owner/operator, promoter, sound engineer, tour manager and artist about what their jobs involve and more about the general live music industry.
Hearing directly from the artist as well as those behind the scenes about how they got into the industry, how a show happens and what it means to go on tour, gives these young people an introduction to the live music industry and a sense of what it takes to put on a show.
By introducing students to their local music venue before they are open to the public, collectively we can build excitement about live music and the role of local venues in their communities. We can also make them aware of the various careers that are available, especially at a time when music is increasingly being removed from school curriculums.
As participating venues, you are also demonstrating your important role in education, supporting young people and the local community. The Sessions also mean that you are opening yourselves up to new audiences when they are finally old enough to attend gigs. And they are also much more likely to come to gigs once they’ve been through the doors of a venue hosting a Soundcheck Session and feel more familiar with the space.
These free sessions also allow you, as venues, to welcome young people in and build relationships with new audiences, and possibly crew, of the future. This, in turn, demonstrates your increasingly important role as a vital creative hub in your local community for development and education. Our experience shows that artists and their crew are very willing to take the time to speak with young people and share their experiences of their work.
This pilot is only happening in the East of England and participants will come from the three local Music Education Hubs in the region. Typically, there will be between 12-20 participants per sessions, often giving them their first experience inside an independent music venue.
Whilst Soundcheck Sessions follow a simple formula, each session will involve different artists and crew, so we provide a framework and then leave you, as the venue to make it your own.
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