Earlier this year, a State of Live study from the National Independent Venue Association found that only a fifth of Ohio’s music venues turned a profit in 2024.
This week, we found out that the numbers hold roughly the same for Cleveland: just a quarter of the city’s stages made money last year, a new report said.
But Cleveland’s independent venues — the 50 or so non-corporate ones like the Grog Shop, Rose Tavern and Spotlight — contributed to a $1.2 billion total economic output with about $743 million headed towards Ohio’s GDP. There are plenty of venues, plenty of shows, and plenty of fans, it turns out…