Chesterfield music bar wins £10,000 to improve offering to bands and fans

The County Music Bar on Saltergate, Chesterfield, is the Midlands and North East regional winner of the Back to Live Music Venue Prize run by PRS for Music.

Music bar owners in Chesterfield have won £10,000 which they plan to use to improve sound and lighting equipment and staging and update the green rooms and rehearsal space.

Lauren and Phillip Deacon, of The County Music Bar, are among the bosses of six venues across the UK who have scooped a prize in a competition aimed at helping businesses recover from the pandemic.

The independent live music venue on Saltergate is the Midlands and North East regional winners of the Back to Live Music Venue Prize run by PRS for Music.

Phillip Deacon said: “We are hugely thankful to PRS for Music for this initiative and of course for the recognition in winning this award. We as a venue had barely survived the pandemic and know of many that didn’t. However, we did. This is a testament to the support from bands and fans alike who rallied around as soon as we could provide entertainment again.

Phillip and Lauren Deacon, owners of The County Music Bar, will use their £10,000 prize to repair and replace equipment while they focus on their business's further survival in difficult times.

"We now, however, face the perfect storm. Recovery from the pandemic, facing a cost-of-living crisis and a frankly ludicrous energy bill hike of nearly 550%. This money will provide a significant breathing space to repair and replace equipment and better facilities for all while we focus on our further survival in these difficult times. We want to continue to be a local music hub for all and provide access to up and coming as well as more established bands.”

The devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the live music sector has been well-documented; between 2019 and 2021, PRS for Music saw an 84% decline in the number of live performance setlists reported to the organisation, falling from 124,000 in 2019, to 19,300 in 2021.

Tony Barton, head of writer relations, PRS for Music, said: “Independent live music venues are pivotal within local communities, providing spaces that inspire the next generation of songwriters and performers. Congratulations to The County Music Bar for keeping live music at the forefront through a very difficult time.”

Andrea Czapary Martin, chief executive officer, PRS for Music, said: “Venues like The County Music Bar in Chesterfield are so vitally important to the health and growth of music in the UK. We’re proud to find ways to support local scenes with projects like the Back to Live Music Venue Prize and thrilled that Phillip and Lauren Deacon are working to keep the music going.”

PRS for Music represents the rights of more than 160,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers around the world,