Скачать или смотреть Stan Renard - Noise, Restrictions, and the Live Music Sector (MEIEA Summit 2020)

PRESENTER:
Stan Renard
University of Texas at San Antonio

PAPER ABSTRACT:
As high-density urban living becomes more common in larger cities, many live music venues are under increasing pressure to restrict noise levels. Efforts to renew several cities’ sound ordinances have proved to be difficult. This is due to heated conflict between businesses, who argue existing rules are too restrictive, and nearby residents, who complain that loud venues hurt their quality of life. To test those assumptions, the proposed research intends to investigate noise levels experienced by patrons at entertainment venues and festivals of various size and capacity (n~70) across the city of San Antonio. In addition, it aims to understand what is being done to protect venues and patrons alike. To the knowledge of the author this would be the first city-wide noise levels study conducted in the live music sector. At stake are distinct perceptions of noise, the uniqueness of the city, and the nature of public space.

To meet the goals of this study, the methodology used is threefold. First, an Extech digital datalogging sound level meter is used to capture detailed noise level ranges inside and outside of about 70 concert venues across San Antonio. Data published is aggregated and thus, anonymous. Second, the data collected provides the means to create a heatmap using the ArcGIS software. Finally, venue owners/operators as well as city officials are interviewed to assess what policies and proactive means are employed if any to protect both venues and audience members.
This research has implication across a wide range of fields that include but is not limited to cultural policies, sound studies, law and economics, music consumption, public health, cultural geography, urban development, and the live music sector at large. For instance, the lack of disclosure laws on product choices in terms of noise levels at venues in the live music sector is an issue that could have a significant future impact on ticket sales and customer’s choice.