Chase & Status have achieved their first number one hit in the UK, more than 20 years after their first release.

With “Backbone”, which features Stormzy, the London pair return to drum and bass; the genre is currently experiencing a renaissance in the music charts.

Figures from Official Charts show that dance and drum and bass consumption increased by almost 13% in 2024 compared to the previous year.

Will Kennard, who first released music under the name Chase & Status with Saul Milton in 2023, tells the BBC that the feeling of clubbing “cannot be reproduced”.

However, according to the Night Time Industries Association, the success of her song comes at a time when fewer people are going to nightclubs – but dance music continues to enjoy incredible popularity.

“I grew up in small clubs and that’s where we fell in love with the music we make,” says Kennard.

“Playing a big concert with the whole production in front of thousands of people is something completely different than the experience in a small club.”

He says it’s a “dangerous trap” for dance music artists to just make music to appeal to a larger audience.

“Most artists come from the underground world and gradually climb the career ladder,” says Kennard.

“As you climb the career ladder, you can forget where you came from. That’s why we always try to check ourselves,” he adds.

The pair played their biggest show to date last week in front of a sold-out crowd of 45,000 in Milton Keynes last Friday.

When asked if people prefer to attend large events like hers rather than going to their local club, Kennard says festivals and open-air shows are “perhaps more attractive”.

According to the Night Time Industries Association, 67 nightclubs will close in the UK in the first half of 2024, 48 of which are independent venues.

This means that approximately two clubs close every week in the UK.

Drum and bass artist Charlotte Plank, 23, says people’s expectations of a night out have changed.

“You want to feel more like part of a community,” she tells the BBC.

“I don’t go to clubs often unless it’s a special event or there are people I want to meet,” she adds.

The musician, who appeared on Rudimental’s hit “Dancing Is Healing” earlier this year, says she associates some clubs with “cheese fests” and that she and her friends tend to go to “pop-up or underground” events.

In February, the UK’s largest club chain owner, Rekom, announced the closure of 17 of its Pryzm and Atik restaurants – resulting in the loss of 500 jobs.

One factor cited was the cost of living, and Plank also believes that this is the reason why fewer people are going to clubs.

“People don’t have much money for tickets – that’s a sign of the times,” she says.

But other areas of the entertainment industry are also booming – like Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour closes its European section in London this weekFans have bought up thousands of tickets worth hundreds of pounds.

Major festivals across the UK such as Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds are also sold out year after year.

So it seems that those who want to listen to their favorite music are becoming more selective about the dance floor they spend their money on.