Leicester stands out as a city with a wealth of opportunities to listen to live music of all kinds.

Much more could be done to tempt people into the many live music shows and venues that Leicester has to offer.

Arts in Leicestershire can assist with finding and arranging sponsorship for the arts and artists in Leicester. All artists need financial support for their work and this is often hard to come by in the current economic climate. Even so, many companies and business are continuing to sponsor live music events, if only to keep their brand name visible to a key customer group.

Going to a show or a gig makes a great evening out and there is much to choose from, on any day of the week.

Details of live music events are given on our two main listings - one for rock gigs - and the other for shows for other kinds of music.

We have put up a page that promotes Leicester as a prime destination for live music.

Much more can be done to promote live music? Here are some of our ideas:

Students

Leicester has one of the largest student populations in the UK. Let's ensure we introduce new students to Leicester's live music scene. We suggest live music venues offer free entry to all NUS card carriers during Fresher's week. If student have a good experience, they will come back.

Newspapers

We suggest that the Leicester Mercury gives more coverage and prominence to live music in its Thursday guide.

Local Radio

It would be great if our local radio stations increased their coverage of local live music events and local bands and artists, especially by playing more recordings by them, whilst broadcasting details of their gigs and shows.

Leicester City Council

Our local Council can do a lot more to stimulate and develop music in Leicester. Much of this can be either at very little cost or by using existing resources. The Council should enable more live music shows on the streets of the city centre. This would allow shoppers to hear some of our talented local bands and singers for the first time.

A live music festival

There should be an annual Live Music Week, designed to stimulate public interest in music. Summer Sundae plays this role and usually features some local bands alongside its national level acts. The Auditorium puts on "We are Leicester" events to feature local bands.

It's happening!

Since this article was written [in 1999] a lot has happened. We now have several new live music venues opening.

Our gigs listings show that there are several open air music festivals happening in Leicestershire.

We need to shout about Leicester.

Artsin does this through its Twitter presence; we have a strong UK music industry following.