Musicians have gathered in Canberra today for what they fear could be a last hurrah, protesting noise laws they say could allow a new five-star hotel to "silence" the city centre.

Key points: Protesters played music, reaching 90 decibels, in Canberra's CBD

Protesters played music, reaching 90 decibels, in Canberra's CBD Musicians and supporters say the noise laws are shutting down venues in favour of hotels and apartments

Musicians and supporters say the noise laws are shutting down venues in favour of hotels and apartments Planning Minister Mick Gentleman says the Government is working on suite of reforms to encourage nightlife

The protest at the foot of the planned hotel in Garema Place broke the square's noise laws to show how easily hotel guests could have bars and restaurants shut down over noise complaints.

The city centre's sound laws permit just 60 decibels of noise in the daytime, and 50 decibels at night — the equivalent of restaurant or office chatter.

Today's protest was set up to show just how easy it was to break those limits, and how unreasonable the laws had become, organisers said.

Some of Canberra's biggest music success stories, including Hands Like Houses and Citizen Kay, helped local musicians break that sound limit, reaching a level of 90dB.

Even folk singer Ella Hunt and her acoustic guitarist broke 80dB.

Local act Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers said playing in Canberra was becoming increasingly difficult, and that music-making friends were moving to Melbourne as a result.

"We've got the musicians, and we've got the supporters, it's just the venues [we need]," band member Neve van Boxsell said.

"Now, we're getting to the point where we've been playing this long and we're starting to look at bigger venues, its really hard, because we've pretty much just got pubs, or the university refectory," Scarlett McKahey said.

Ms McKahey said they feared Canberra's nightlife would suffer like Sydney's, which had seen many of its bars and longstanding venues close since introducing lock-out laws — enacted in response to alcohol-fuelled violence.

"We don't want that here, it's just killed it, the nightlife," she said.

"You go out and there's no one around and I think that's the direction that Canberra's heading in if we don't do something about it."

Local band Teen Jesus and Jean Teasers play in Garema Place during the protest. ( ABC News: Jake Evans )

'We want a cool capital'

Music ACT's David Caffery said Canberra's nightlife needed protection by becoming a designated entertainment precinct.

He said the closure of venues like Toast — forced to close in 2007 due to repeated noise complaints from the nearby Waldorf hotel — could be just the beginning.

"[Garema Place] is the only place you could open a new venue in the city now — with a hotel, that opportunity is gone," Mr Caffery said.

"We want a cool capital, we want a vibrant city and we need to have music as a part of that mix."

A protester in Canberra waves a sign calling for a vibrant nightlife. ( ABC News: Jake Evans )

Mr Caffery advocated for a change to sound regulations that might allow for the development of active precincts while still ensuring people were undisturbed in their apartments and hotel rooms.

"The fact is that apartments and hotels are being peppered across the city — we're just saying protect the music sector as well while you're doing this."

Planning Minister Mick Gentleman was not available for an interview.

In a statement he said the Government was working on suite of reforms to encourage a healthy nightlife in Canberra.

"We are looking at measures to support the existing night-time economy, such as extending daytime noise limits later into the evening in our town centres on Friday and Saturday nights," Mr Gentleman said.

The Government has not committed to entertainment precincts, but Mr Gentleman met with representatives of the music industry on Wednesday to discuss their concerns.