Yes, isn't the whole point that it is venues of 200 CAPACITY or less that will be exempt from licensing?

That's what the article in the Guardian stated.

So, Don Wizywig, when you say:

"It will reduce Local Authority income by an average of £1600 per annum per venue"

what are you basing that on? I find that hard to believe, looking at my own locale.

Are there really that many <200 capacity places who all dutifully regularly bought live entertainment licenses that they amount to a national average of £1600 per venue?

As opposed to, say, pubs with function rooms that might well have operated as <200 capacity live music venues but didn't because they'd have had to buy a license?

I live just down the road from a live music venue and a branch of Fitness First. I've never heard any noise from the music venue, while the gym is a massive noise nuisance (pumping dance music that accompanies the aerobics classes spilling out of the fire escape; surly, hostile staff who swear at you when you ask them to turn the music down etc etc)

As has been pointed out, a pub doesn't need a license to blast out loud recorded music: I find that venues with live bands are generally quieter (simply because, if you don't want to alienate your regular punters, you generally have the music in a function room out the back, not the main bar. And when music IS in the main bar, it tends to be acoustic...)