How Independent Music Venues Survive the Streaming Revolution: Lessons from Seth Hurwitz’s 45-Year Journey

Seth Hurwitz’s 45-year career shows how independent music venues can survive in an era dominated by streaming.

By Joe Graber

Friday, September 5, 2025 12:00 PM

By Joe Graber

Friday, September 5, 2025 12:00 PM

Seth Hurwitz is the founder and chairman of I.M.P.

The music industry has been turned upside down by streaming. With millions of songs available instantly on smartphones, you’d think live venues would be struggling to stay relevant. Yet some independent music venues aren’t just surviving – they’re thriving. Seth Hurwitz, founder and chairman of I.M.P. and co-owner of the 9:30 Club, has spent over four decades watching the industry evolve, and his approach offers a roadmap for how independent venues can not only compete with streaming but provide something digital music simply cannot.

The Irreplaceable Magic of Shared Experience

While streaming platforms offer convenience and endless choice, they can’t reproduce the fundamental experience that drives Hurwitz’s philosophy. “My favourite thing in the whole world is standing at that line where my box is at The Anthem, which is right on the stage line. And having said hi to the band and watched people come in and on both sides of the stage, everyone is happy and there’s this joy there, and I know what the people went through and they bought tickets and waited for the show and waited in line and all that, and now they’re here and the show starts. That’s the best moment ever.”

This description captures what streaming fundamentally cannot replicate: the collective anticipation, the shared energy, the moment when hundreds of people experience something together in real time. Hurwitz has built his venues around these irreplaceable moments rather than trying to compete with digital convenience.

The strategy works because it addresses what streaming cannot: the human need for authentic, unmediated experiences. While fans can listen to their favorite songs anytime on Spotify, they can’t recreate the electricity of being in the same room as the artist, feeling the collective energy of the crowd, experiencing the unrepeatable moments that happen when live performance meets live audience.

Building Venues That Adapt While Maintaining Intimacy

One of Hurwitz’s most innovative approaches to venue survival involves creating spaces that can accommodate different experiences while maintaining their essential character. His venues are designed with flexibility in mind, but more importantly, they’re designed to “look full no matter what you do, no matter how many tickets you sell.” This philosophy, which he says “that’s what we invented at the 9:30,” ensures that every show feels vibrant and intimate regardless of attendance.

The Atlantis, which opened in 2023, represents Hurwitz’s most deliberate statement about what makes live music special. Built as a near replica of the original 9:30 Club with a 450-person capacity, The Atlantis deliberately includes elements that might be considered flaws – like structural poles that obstruct some sightlines – because these imperfections are part of an authentic live experience. The venue received 520,000 requests for just 20,000 tickets during its opening series, demonstrating massive demand for intimate, authentic live experiences.

This design philosophy directly counters streaming’s predictable perfection. Instead of trying to create seamless, controlled experiences, Hurwitz embraces the unpredictable elements that make each live show unique. The Atlantis even salvaged the original front desk from the 9:30 Club, creating physical connections to music history that no digital platform can offer.

The Anti-Corporate Philosophy That Builds Long-Term Relationships

Perhaps most importantly, Hurwitz has survived industry changes by maintaining a philosophy that prioritizes long-term fan relationships over short-term revenue maximization. “I want people to go to a lot of shows,” he explains, articulating an approach that treats frequent concert attendance as the goal rather than extracting maximum value from each ticket sold.

This philosophy extends to his firm stance against ticket scalping and resale market inflation. “I’ve never scalped a ticket in my life. I just don’t believe in it. And I don’t want to take more money from people if in fact they could pay the going rate and go to the show, I don’t need any more from them.” His approach recognises that streaming’s primary advantage is its low cost per experience, so successful venues need to remain accessible rather than positioning live music as an occasional luxury.

Hurwitz’s business philosophy, summed up in his frequently quoted principle “If it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t make sense,” reflects a focus on sustainable practices rather than quick profits. This long-term thinking allows venues to build loyal audiences who attend multiple shows throughout the year, creating steady revenue streams that don’t depend on premium pricing.

Creating Necessity Through Authentic Curation

The key to surviving the streaming revolution lies in creating experiences that feel necessary rather than merely convenient. Hurwitz achieves this through careful curation and venue management that prioritizes artistic authenticity over commercial calculation.

His approach to booking shows reflects what he calls an “at-bat mentality”—treating each show as a unique opportunity rather than part of a calculated strategy. “It was never about a career,” he reflects. “People ask me all the time, ‘How did you envision all this? How did you plan?’ We really didn’t plan anything. It’s all about just putting on a show.”

This philosophy creates venues where artists feel comfortable taking creative risks and fans can discover music in ways that algorithms cannot provide. The 9:30 Club culture, which Hurwitz describes as “a home for acceptance—whatever you are, it’s okay,” fosters an environment where both artists and audiences can experience music authentically, without the commercial pressures that influence recorded music.

The Vision for Independent Venues’ Future

After 45 years in the business, Hurwitz sees independent venues not as relics fighting against technological change, but as essential spaces for experiences that become more valuable as digital interaction increases. His decision to build The Atlantis—a deliberate recreation of intimate venue experiences—represents a bet that authenticity and community will become increasingly valuable commodities.

Hurwitz’s vision extends beyond just surviving streaming to actively benefiting from it. He sees the future of live music venues in spaces like The Anthem, which he calls “the prototype” for mid-size venues that can accommodate tours of various scales. “Bands could be playing there instead of trying to do arenas and selling half of them,” he explains, pointing to how venues can offer artists alternatives to the traditional arena-or-nothing touring model.

The challenge, as Hurwitz sees it, isn’t technological but psychological: “The problem that you run into is it’s very difficult to find a manager or an agent that can admit that his band is not going to sell out the arena.” Independent venues succeed by offering artists and their representatives realistic alternatives that prioritize connection over capacity.

Staying Local While Thinking Long-Term

Unlike corporate venue chains that seek national expansion, Hurwitz has deliberately focused on building deep roots in his local market. “I’m not national, and I’ve never had a desire to be national. I like to quote Marcus Aurelius: ‘if you seek tranquility, do less.’ So why do I need other markets? I don’t. I’m doing fine here.”

This local focus allows independent venues to build the kind of community connections that streaming services, by their nature, cannot replicate. Venues become gathering places for local music communities, creating social connections around shared musical experiences that extend far beyond individual shows.

The Survival Blueprint for the Streaming Era

Independent music venues survive the streaming revolution not by competing with digital music’s convenience, but by providing what digital music cannot: community, authenticity, and the irreplaceable experience of shared live moments. Seth Hurwitz’s four-decade journey offers a blueprint built on intimate venue design, accessible pricing, authentic artist relationships, and an unwavering commitment to what makes live music irreplaceably special.

The venues that thrive in the streaming era understand they’re not selling recorded music—they’re selling experiences that exist nowhere else and can never be perfectly replicated. In a world where any song is available instantly, the greatest value becomes being present for moments that cannot be streamed, downloaded, or algorithmically reproduced.

As long as artists continue seeking authentic spaces to connect with audiences and fans crave real community around shared musical experiences, independent venues will remain not just viable, but essential. Seth Hurwitz has built his career proving that point, one unrepeatable show at a time.

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}