[ssalka]

I'm just gonna say that some aspect of the data collection here seems flawed: among the SF clubs listed are DNA Lounge and Public Works – which are great clubs, don't get me wrong – but they are very much on the smaller side. And, Phonobar? That is a bar/restaurant, not a nightclub at all. Meanwhile, The Warfield and 1015 Folsom are left out – how does that make any sense?

[kalli]

It's based on popularity on Resident Advisor / RA (those are the clubs that had the most "followers" among their userbase)

[kenhwang]

This is a classic example of data sourcing bias.

RA is primarily used by independent promoters in the States, which tend to be much smaller and have smaller or less frequent events.

Large promoters who regularly throw events or have the budget for larger events would use their own promotion mechanisms and general population ad networks instead of listing on RA.

[lelandfe]

> Large promoters who regularly throw events or have the budget for larger events would use their own promotion mechanisms

No (at least in the US) - it’s because of exclusive contracts with the ticketing platforms.

Whereas you can list on RA and other platforms too, the biggest clubs and venues get lucrative deals with eg AXS to only list tickets on their platform.

[kenhwang]

That's ticketing. There's plenty of listings on RA that don't use RA's ticketing service.

Large promoters that use or have exclusivity deals with AXS or Ticketmaster/LiveNation or Dice still advertise/promote on platforms like Facebook/Instagram, EDM Train, Radiate, etc alongside the ticketing platform's promotion platforms.

[pimeys]

RA is the biggest site for electronic subculture since forever, and it's an excellent resource to find out the cool stuff that happens in your city. I don't know why you consider it small, maybe it's a US thing? In Europe, RA is the best resource to find about parties and electronic music in general.

[repeekad]

In case you didn’t know America’s music industry is run by cartels… I mean “unregulated monopolies”

[seec]

What are you talking about ? RA is relevant for the UK at best, outside of that it seems a bit dead. In France everyone use Shotgun.

[kiitos]

dunno about the rest of your post but phonobar is legit, it's tiny but it has a dance floor and regularly hosts top-tier talent

[presentation]

Agreed, when i lived in SF it was my favorite venue. Big clubs are overrated.

[namanyayg]

Which is the best SF nightclub? I got baited by online reviews to visit DNA and was disappointed.

[siva7]

DNA is good - but it's a club for the actual artist and music to go - and less as a place to hang out on a random night

[radley]

It depends on the music and scene that interests you. Most SF nightclubs are event spaces that host independent promoters of recurring events, so the music and attendance can vary. You'll generally get best results if your friends will be there and you want to see the performing artist(s).

[bckr]

My favorites are Public Works, The Midway, and 1015 Folsom

[presentation]

It was almost a decade ago I was living in sf but I remember 1015 Folsom’s audio quality was terrible and they had a lot of basic mainstream acts. Maybe it’s improved since then though. Overall SF’s local artists have a cool style and some of the warehouse events can be cool, but the club scene was not my cup of tea.

[keeda]

Madarae is newish but pretty good too, depending on your tastes in music.