'We could become the next Austin.' What more music venues mean for Cincinnati

It's not your imagination. A lot of new music venues have opened or been announced in the Cincinnati region during the past three years.

After the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's announcement in December it would expand its Riverbend Music Center onto the old Coney Island amusement park property, people on social media and in letters to The Enquirer raised the question: How many music venues are too many?

The Enquirer asked that question of booking agents and club owners. Many expressed surprise that Coney Island would become a music venue. A few lamented there are too many venues. Others optimistically think Cincinnati "could become the next Austin, the next Nashville."

Several club owners told The Enquirer they don't see the large music venue planned for Coney Island as competition since it'll be going after larger acts. Its projected capacity would place it somewhere between Fifth Third Arena and Great American Ball Park, drawing acts like those that play Riverbend now. The new venue will have the ability to host more acts, with symphony officials projecting a 30% increase in shows compared to those currently booked at Riverbend.

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Could Cincinnati be the next Austin?

While there isn't a consensus on how many music venues a region needs, most of the venue operators who talked to The Enquirer see the plans for the old Coney Island as a positive. Indeed, Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky could turn the surplus of live music into a draw, said Frank Hulefeld, the programming director for the Madison Theater and Madison Live venues in Covington.

Sure, the influx of venues recently creates competition for the Madison Theater, an old movie theater that seats up to 1,200 people and has booked major acts in the past, including the Arctic Monkeys and the National. Hulefeld doesn't mind the competition.

"You don't hear people in Austin and in Nashville complaining about there being too many music venues," Hulefeld said.

How could Cincinnati become the next music city? Organize a board of elected officials, promoters, musicians and other leaders to come up with events, festivals and advertising, he said.

"I don't think the city leaders potentially realize what they have here, which is the makings, for whatever reason, of a very healthy ecosystem for the music business," Hulefeld said. "I mean, we could become the next Austin, the next Nashville."

What is the symphony proposing?

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's musical promotion division, Music and Events Management Inc., known as MEMI, has said its plans for the old Coney Island property will make the region a destination for the top acts.

MEMI and the symphony already own and operate several venues in the region, including Riverbend, PNC Pavilion, the Taft Theatre and the Andrew J. Brady Music Center at The Banks.

The 100 acres that once housed Coney Island will become a massive music campus with three stages for performances and festivals, according to plans from MEMI.

The organization bought the former Coney Island amusement park for $8 million in December. MEMI will expand the already existing 20,500-seat Riverbend Music Center that it owns. The plan is to build a 22,000-seat venue (or possibly bigger) next to the existing Riverbend and 4,100-seat PNC Pavilion.

The new venue will replace the big Riverbend stage as the main stage, but the organization will keep all three stages to host music festivals. MEMI will continue to book smaller acts at PNC Pavilion as it currently does.

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The plans for Coney Island shocked many in the local music industry, including West Chester-based music promoter John Madden. Madden owns JBM Promotions, which has booked national acts in Cincinnati-area venues for 30 years.

"I do have agents tell me, they can't believe how many venues we have," Madden said. "I guess they're all doing well. I can't imagine."

Though it seems like we're awash in concert stages, Cincinnati has consistently ranked in the middle of the market in terms of ticket sales and live music, based on industry rankings.

Cincinnati in 2019 came in 25th in the country in music venues per capita, one below Cleveland, with 19.4 music venues per 100,000 residents, according to the moving industry site Move.org, which used data from the consumer site Yelp. For perspective, Austin came in first with 46 music venues per 100,000.

Pollstar, a concert industry publication, ranked Cincinnati 47th out of the top 100 markets in terms of gross ticket sales in 2022, the most recent year data is publicly available.

Coney Island will fulfill a music need

The area needs bigger venues, several club owners told The Enquirer.

The Southgate House Revival, an old church that now hosts up-and-coming acts, doesn't compete with Riverbend, said owner Morrella Raleigh.

"It's kind of a deeper and more complicated question than just, do we already have too many venues? Or do we have not enough venues?" Raleigh said. "It's the having different types of venues."

Raleigh said the region is lucky to have MEMI and the symphony.

"The players in that, you know, live, operate, work locally," Raleigh said. "They're invested in the community."

The plans for Coney Island won't oversaturate the market, said Scott Stienecker, president of Columbus-based music promotion company PromoWest, which opened up MegaCorp Pavilion in Newport in 2021.

"You have Live Nation doing Bogart’s," Stienecker said. "You’ve got the middle ground with us and Andrew Brady. You’ve got the bigger ground with Riverbend. Now you have all-size venues."

What has opened up recently?

The music venue boom in Cincinnati began a little over two years ago. After several operators vied to open a music venue on Cincinnati's riverfront at The Banks, MEMI won out and opened the Andrew J. Brady Music Center in July 2021. The Foo Fighters inaugurated the new venue as the first act. One of the bidders that lost out on The Banks venue bid, PromoWest, decided to open a venue near Brady's doorstep across the Ohio River in Newport.

Singer Kesha christened that venue, originally known as PromoWest Pavilion at Ovation and now known as MegaCorp Pavilion, a month later in August 2021. Both MegaCorp and Brady are similar venues with indoor and outdoor stages seating a few thousand each.

They attract the same type of acts.

"We're splitting the baby in half," said Stienecker.

Still, both MEMI and PromoWest say the venues are a success.

MegaCorp saw attendance in the second year increase from 200,000 to 250,000 and the number of acts and events booked grow from 96 to 111. They're expecting to book 135 events this year.

MEMI didn't release attendance numbers for 2023 at Brady but said the organization booked 63 shows there in 2023, compared to 80 in 2022. MEMI spokeswoman Rosemarie Moehring said the drop in number was more reflective of fewer touring acts nationally compared to the previous year.

What is the future?

Leaders are still pondering new venues both big and small. In 2023, Visit Cincy Chairman Jeff Berding unveiled designs for a proposed new arena, something many in both the music industry and business industry say is needed to replace the 49-year-old arena on the riverfront.

There's still the possibility of another music venue for mid-level acts. FC Cincinnati in 2023 proposed building a 1,500-seat venue near TQL Stadium in the West End as part of a larger redevelopment of the area. The symphony's announcement didn't dissuade them, with plans still a go as of early January. FC Cincinnati Chief Development Officer Chad Munitz, in an email to The Enquirer on Jan. 5, said the team still saw a demand.

The proposed new venue by the soccer stadium seemed less certain after the General Assembly did not approve the project for state tax credits. The team had not decided on building a new venue as of Jan. 31, Munitz said in an email.

What is the future for existing venues?

It's hard to compete with the Brady Music Center, MegaCorp and so many other similar-sized venues going after the same acts, said Tim Jordan, owner of Riverfront Live. Jordan bought the music venue along the Ohio River five years ago. In previous incarnations, it was Annie's and Inner Circle. Riverfront Live won't compete directly with the new larger venue at Coney Island.

His venue seats 1,500 indoors and 5,000 outdoors. It competes with existing venues, including PNC Pavilion as well as the two new riverfront venues, Brady and MegaCorp. That's led to a bidding war for acts, driving up prices for concertgoers, he said.

What will this mean in the long run for Cincinnati music lovers?

"You're gonna lose that personal touch," he said. "You're gonna pay a lot more to see the same acts."

Still, the smaller club owners have hope for the future. New venues, such as what MEMI has planned for Coney Island, will only help the Southgate House Revival and other similar places, Raleigh said.

"Because what you don't want to have happen is, you know, agents to stop thinking about Cincinnati," Raleigh said.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How many music venues does Cincinnati have?