A draft amendment to a Taipei bylaw could see live music venues (live houses) penalized if they remain open past midnight, which has sparked concern about the development of the city’s music scene.
Taipei City Office of Commerce said the bylaw, which previously targeted bars, clubs and ballrooms, would also be applied to nightclubs and some live houses if passed by the Taipei City Council.
The amendment was proposed in compliance with a Ministry of Economic Affairs announcement in February, which added nightclubs to the list of the “eight industries” regarded as prone to problems concerning public safety and narcotics use.
Nightclubs are classified as establishments that operate past 12am, offer alcoholic drinks and have lighting and stereo systems, seats and a dance floor, the ministry said.
Office director Tsai Tsung-hsiung (蔡宗雄) said that live houses that create excessive noise or stage music performances past midnight would be regarded as nightclubs.
He said that under the proposed changes, these businesses would be penalized if residents file a complaint.
The proposal has drawn criticism from members of in the Taipei music scene.
EZ5 Live House owner Max Hsu (許理平) said that the city government should not have listed live houses under the eight industries.
“Live houses focus on providing customers with extensive music styles and are different in nature from nightclubs,” he said.
“Also, the business model of live houses vary from one to another. There should be a clearer definition of what live houses are; otherwise, it would be detrimental to the music industry,” Hsu said.
The Wall chief executive officer Orbis Fu (傅鉛文) panned the city government’s apparent attempt at discouraging alcohol sales at live houses, saying that it is only natural that recreational facilities offer alcohol, adding that society needs to change if it adopts an outdated mentality and considers drinking a sin.
In response, Tsai said that the office would only carry out regular inspections at businesses listed under the eight industries, such as bars and nightclubs, and that it would not proactively carry out inspections at live houses unless people complained.
He said that alcohol is not the city government’s concern.
“Businesses that stay open after midnight and serve alcohol will not be penalized if they do not make excessive noise or threaten people’s safety,” he said.
He urged proprietors of live houses with performances continuing past midnight to heed the Business Registration Act (商業登記法) and have their entities registered as nightclubs if they want to avoid possible fines.
“If the way a live house operates makes is not different from a nightclub, we would order suspension of its operations, so that the proprietor has the lead time to bring its operations in line with the legal standard. If it refuses to make improvements, we would cut off its utilities,” he said.
Under the bylaw, entities that are determined to be nightclubs should not be within a 50m radius of daycare centers or schools, he added.
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