While you can see a great concert anywhere, seeing a great show in a great venue that’s seen countless great performances over its years adds to the experience. This blog post looks at what the top 20 venues, per a 2016 list compiled by Consequence Of Sound, have been doing to protect the brands associated with the iconic venues.
Fourteen of the twenty have at least one trademark registration. The most popular class, by far, was Class 41, covering some sort of live music services – the venue itself. The next most popular were food/drink-related classes, like bar services (Class 43 or, in older registrations, 42) and then merchandising, especially clothing in Class 25.
| Venue | Registrations | Classes | Owner | Counsel |
| The Fillmore | 6 | 6, 16, 25, 35, 41 | Live Nation Worldwide, Inc. | Ellie Schwimmer |
| The Bowery Ballroom | 2 | 35, 41 | Cocktail Blue, LLC | Lawrence Apolzon |
| Metro Chicago | 2 | 41 | Stages-Music Hall, Inc.
DBA Cabaret Metro |
Kimberly Brown Mosberg |
| Hollywood Bowl | – | – | – | – |
| 9:30 Club | 2 | 25, 41, 43 | Sledge, Inc. | Camille Miller |
| Stubb’s | 14 | 4, 29, 30, 41, 43 | One World Foods, Inc. | |
| Red Rocks Amphitheater | 3 | 41, 42 | City and County of Denver | Leigh Augustine |
| Great Scott | – | – | – | – |
| The Gorge | – | – | – | – |
| Ryman Auditorium | 7 | 14, 16, 20, 25, 28, 36, 37, 41 | Grand Ole Opry IP, LLC | Edward Playfair |
| First Avenue and 8th St. Entry | 5 (2 pending) | 25, 41, 42 (9, 10, 14, 16, 21, 28, 35, 41, 43) | F-Troop LLC | James Young |
| Cat’s Cradle | – | – | – | – |
| Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace | 5 (2 pending) | 25, 41, 43 (30) | No Regrets Coyote Inc. | Gabrielle Holley |
| Tabernacle | – | – | – | – |
| Toad’s Place | 2 | 42 | World of Toads Development Corporation | Jason Drangel |
| Electric Factory | 1 | 41 | Live Nation Worldwide, Inc. | Ellie Schwimmer |
| Doug Fir Lounge | 1 | 43 | Burnside Entertainment Group LLC | David Peterson |
| 40 Watt Club | – | – | – | – |
| Doug Weston’s Troubadour | 1 | 41 | Troubadour Enterprises, Inc. | Burton Jacobson |
| The Hideout | 1 | 41 | Hideout Inn, Inc. | Grant Peters |
TM TKO Blog 