Clubbing In London Needs To Take A Look At Itself

London and clubbing go hand in hand.

We've built up a global reputation as one of the cornerstones of clubbing culture, since the late 1980s and early 1990s cradled the rave scene. From Metalheadz' D&B festivities at The Blue Note, to FWD at Plastic People, our dimly-lit dance spaces have provided fertile beds for a conveyor belt of arresting, imaginative sounds. It's the type of symbiotic relationship that Mother Nature would have approved of herself - had she a provisional driver's licence, and enough Frosty Jacks to smash through.

Now, nobody wants to sound like that old git in the corner of Fabric moaning about how "things aren't the same as '97". Trends are constantly changing - fast forwarded even, by the internet – and naturally the clubs adapt to the dynamic movements of the tide. As a regular partygoer, I'm frequently found heartily lapping up LFOs at parties, enjoying the vibes, yet wondering what the next frontier of innovative nocturnal life could be.

What do promoters think about London's rave climate now we're here in 2014? And what tweaks, whether small and localised or not, could improve it? See, 2K13 LDN club-land wasn't shit – nowhere near it – but could things be greater, and if so, what's holding it back?

Those questions come off the back of a triumphant year for electronic music. Acts like Disclosure, Oneohtrix Point Never and Daniel Avery presented innovative albums that helped us embrace the full-length once more, whilst Daft Punk manhandled every journalist's consciousness as we braced for Random Access Memories. Even through to Wilkinson's 'Afterglow', and Avicii's attempts to meld EDM and country, we learnt a whole heap about how the grand umbrella of electronic music can be elasticated in different directions.

Overall though, mainstream popularity has peaked interest in electronic music to higher than ever before - meaning more club nights, and more people in them. Promoters are fronting a battle to keep their underground ventures as innovative as possible, whilst retaining originality in a vastly over saturated environment.  According to an IBIS report, there are nearly 7,000 spaces fit for a night out, but how many of these are being used for forward-thinking events? Even a cursory glance at Resident Advisor listings shows us how densely populated most school nights have now become.  It's all gravy if people want a quick nightcap before their history A level exam, yet massively disorientating if you want to find the best scrounge for your money. It's not as if competition hasn't been a hurdle in the past, but the tools to throw a night have become ever more accessible - to everyone.

We're now clogged by legions of fan-boys, all of whom are able to throw a night using just a decent Wi-Fi, Facebook, £10 T Mobile credit and some half-hearted associates. Fair enough - people want to host a night featuring music that they'd like to see on a bill themselves. Fair enough - not everyone has a monumental budget to pluck their favourite DJs out of their studio caverns. But I still feel that the clubbing formula is a blueprint that's there to be tampered with; tugged in every which compass point, just like the music itself.

Who is to say that our capital's club music can't be bedfellows with live music on a more regular basis, or combined with different forms of the arts, for a total, multi-disciplinary experience? The signs are most definitely there. Boiler Room has burrowed itself a niche that tightropes between online event and club. Punters can now be part of Seth Troxler's mammoth set while perched behind their Mac screens, but it also highlights how seemingly un-clubable spaces can be made into hospitable tune shacks.

It's a telling turn of events too, considering how more traditional club spaces are being affected. Unless you've been cryogenically frozen, you'll have seen how  Dalston-Shoreditch ends have been having their moment for the last few years, too. It's a zeitgeist that people like Andy Peyton – who owns The Nest on Stoke Newington Road, and XOYO in Shoreditch – have had to gauge:

"The street is so busy it dictates how we run the club. Trying to maintain the integrity of our crowd is our main priority. We could put on an ironic party DJ every Friday and have the venue be packed to make a bundle of money if we wanted. But that's not the sort of club we want to own. We spend heavily on our line-ups every Friday, to the point where we sell 75% of the capacity of the club in advanced tickets every week. That way, the people are there because they know who Jimmy Edgar or Jeremy Underground Paris are."

What we need is more promoters juicing more thought into the actual curation of their nights, instead of chasing the quick buck. It's a sure formula for a better rave experience. We all get it. It's a business, and cheque books need to be kept in the green, but I feel there's been less "doing it for the art" in favour of biting off of whatever zeitgest we're in for some time.

Practical elements aside, there's also the mammoth impact of social phenomena like the internet, with the biggest game changer being how compressed the journey to DJ stardom has become. In the advent of cheaper equipment and more readily accessible music, more bored adolescents are taking to music production. Bedroom beatsmiths have become commonplace within the industry which has had its positives and negatives. The quantity of kids making one song before getting fast tracked to headline slots has dramatically increased and, as a result of social media influence, DJs previously limited to sets just yards from their duvets are now performing at too high a level, and way before they've mastered their craft. Maybe this isn't too big a factor for the kindred spirits simply out to get uber pissed and listen to music, yet the musical sticklers – the breed that get excited about the minutiae of a mix transition, or breathe for white label dubs – care a whole heap.  Although it's an exciting revolution, not all producers are cut out to be DJs.

Then, finally, there are the authorities. The Conservative fuckers that will never wake up to the fact that people like to rave. At the moment, licencing for late night venues is done by individual councils, which allows them to shut clubs early on the basis of the effect the venue or event has on local residents. East End party hotspots like Dalston have previously been subjected to a Special Policy Area, which could give the Council even more power over licencing in the area.

The proposed SPA runs along Kingsland Road from the Middleton Road junction in the south to the junction of Stoke Newington Road and Evering Road in the north and, if enforced, would nullify any opportunities for event organisers trying to bring innovations to the area. Although it wouldn't affect clubs that are already open, the SPA would effectively prevent any new venues from staying open past midnight.

The proposal is generally seen as a response to residents' complaints about post-party crowds, amid reports that theft and pick-pocketing in the area also increased by 94% between 2009 and 2012. Yet, an opposing survey from 2011 found that 77% of locals were against plans to make Dalston SPA. So despite the noise, people don't want our raves wiped clean from their neighbourhoods. If noise complaints are such a big issue, why not try something new? When I spoke to Adam Peyton about this, he weighed in with an option: " If there were a central licencing body for the whole city, they could designate a zone specifically for nightlife that would allow residents to have less power. A vibrate nightlife industry strongly benefits a city, but no one is in a position to look at the overall picture in the current set up."

We pretty much invented club life, so why are we not brandishing these 7,000 odd spaces like some sheened badge of honour? London isn't shit. We're by no means in peril of losing our stature as one of the best party destinations in the world. I just think our club spaces, promoters and local authorities need a kick up the arse to make sure that we stay ahead of the curve, and keep things interesting. These clubs are cultural monuments; on the same stratum as The Tate, The London Eye and Madame Tussauds.

You can follow Errol Anderson on Twitter here: @errol_and