While San Francisco has a rich history in live music, few independent venues exist outside of music group monopolies such as Live Nation, Another Planet, Golden Voice (owned by AEG), or SF Jazz. All politics aside, it’s becoming less common for a medium-capacity venue to operate independently, likely related to hugely inflated rent/operations costs and radius clauses. Just last week Great American Music Hall and Slims relinquished booking rights to Golden Voice and laid off its loyal longtime staff.