The show must go on: proposals to measure the economic value of Grassroots Music Venues

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on private grassroots music venues (GMVs) increased the difficulties in their business model, showing the vulnerability of their economic sustainability. This paper proposes ways to measure the economic value of GMVs in the city of Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil, seeking to highlight the important role of such venues and of public and private support for their maintenance. To this end, an online survey was applied to 180 GMVs goers and 188 non-goers, based on the contingent valuation method. The data shows GMVs play an important role within the musical ecosystem and generate positive externalities for the city. Both goers and non-goers tend to understand this importance and identify GMVs as businesses that generate cultural and economic value for the city, showing a non-use value of the good.