Amsterdam Dance Event and nightlife consultancy VibeLab have launched the Nighttime Culture Index, a research initiative measuring nighttime culture across Amsterdam, Lagos, New York, São Paulo, Seoul and Sydney. The index debuted at ADE’s 30th anniversary edition and was developed with local research coordinators in each city, assessing factors including creative activity, safety, affordability, diversity and civic policy toward nightlife.
According to the announcement, the research drew on more than 12,000 event lineups, over 3,000 venues, nearly 30,000 non-music cultural events, and input from more than 700 survey respondents, 67 focus group participants and 14 nighttime culture experts. Findings cited by the groups include wide disparities in the affordability of a night out, with club entry costing roughly one hour of minimum-wage work in Sydney versus about 25 hours in Lagos, and underrepresentation of women and gender-diverse artists on lineups, who the report says account for 27% to 32% of bookings across the six cities.
The index also points to a gap in perceived safety between venues and surrounding streets, particularly in São Paulo and Lagos, and argues that city governments increasingly treat nightlife as an economic sector rather than a cultural one. VibeLab co-founder Mirik Milan and ADE managing director Jan-Willem van de Ven both framed the findings as evidence that access and affordability remain central challenges for sustaining nightlife culture globally.
Based on a press release provided to Music Industry Weekly by Nikki McNeill, globalpublicity.co.uk.