A "music venue" has never been expressly defined in Austin's land use code, instead getting lumped into "bar/nightclub" designations – much to the chagrin of music advocates.
"Clarifying that is important because we don't need to protect bars and nightclubs," says Rebecca Reynolds of Music Venue Alliance Austin (MVAA). "It's profitable to run a bar; it's not profitable to run a music venue. Both have the same revenue streams, but music venues give up a big chunk of that to pay for talent, lighting, sound, and booking, and they have a different cultural value."