THE first live music census in the UK has been set up in Scotland's capital over fears the future of the genre.

Lovers of gigs are being asked to take part in electronic surveys under the initiative which is being co-ordinated by Dr Adam Behr in Edinburgh University's Reid School of Music.

Today, he will take a team of volunteers out to pubs and clubs to take a snapshot of the city's musical activity, ranging from concerts to informal house gigs.

It is part of a wider project to understand the city's live music culture and influence council planning that it is hoped will prevent live music venues from closing.

Mr Behr has already had a positive response to an online survey of the city's musicians, which is seeking to build a profile of Edinburgh musicians across a range of musical genres.

The results will be collated by late July.

The team of volunteers will try to get to as many gigs as possible on Saturday.

They will record how many bands are playing, how many people are attending shows and how many people are working at the venues.

Mr Behr is also keen to hear from venues across the city that they might have missed.

He is calling on cafés and pubs to get in touch and let him know how many people were at the shows and how the concert went.

The team would also like to build a clearer picture of how many shows these venues put on throughout the year, not just at peak times during the Festivals.

He said: "We get a sense that the city is as musically vibrant as it has ever been, but that many of the smaller venues face difficulties trying to put on gigs.

"This census gives people who love music a chance to tell us of their experiences and inform the council's live music strategy."

Sam Roberts of the Phoenix Bar earlier started a petition calling on Edinburgh City Council to rethink its enforcement of licensing rules they claim is forcing many to abandon staging live events.

One of Edinburgh's most historic live music venues is also under threat of becoming a superpub.

The Picture House, which has played host to David Bowie, Genesis and The Smiths over five decades, received more than 13,000 signatures in a public petition against the move.

Mr Behr added: "We'll be sending surveys out to every business that we can identify that hosts live music of any kind.

"From this we'll get a sense of how often they put on live music, what kind of music they feature, their capacities, their staffing levels and how planning and licensing issues affect their work.

"This will cover the city and provide an illustration of the city's full capacity for live music provision, the challenges it faces and the potential for better supporting it.

"We'll also be placing surveys at gigs taking place on the first weekend of June to collect information from audience members and musicians."

He said: "We'll collate and analyse the information and place it into the context of wider research on live music in a report for the city council and for all the participants.

"This pilot study will provide a snapshot of Edinburgh's live music activity as well up-to-date information about the full extent of the city's musical life with indications about how Edinburgh and other cities can form a productive relationship between venues and their surroundings."