Grassroots music venues (GMVs) will receive a percentage of every ticket sold at a British arena or stadium in a government policy passed last month.
Stadiums and arenas will face a £1 voluntary levy for every ticket bought to help fund GMVs, as set out by the government’s response to the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee report of May 2024.
This comes as nearly 80 GMVs permanently closed from February to September 2023 due to financial issues largely brought about by Covid-19 and the cost-of-living crisis, the Music Venue Trust (MVT) reported.
MVT CEO Mark Davyd said: “The production on some arena and stadium shows is stunning, and is growing ever more intricate and incredible.
“But if you want to really experience the music, if you want to feel the bass in your chest, hear every word, be part of the crowd that was waiting for that one song that means so much to them, there’s no better place to get that experience than in a grassroots music venue.”
Davyd added venues are now carrying debts they never previously had with post-pandemic rent costs rising by 37% on average and staff costs increasing rapidly.
Despite GMVs being integral to the live music industry, the government announced the 75% business rate relief for these venues will reduce to 40% from April 1st 2025, placing 350 of them at immediate risk of closure.
Booker at Brixton pub The Windmill Tim Perry said: “It’s a free for all.
“On one level, grassroots venues and the musicians are all struggling, and yet shareholders from multinational corporations are making loads of money.
“It’s just such madness at the moment, it has to stop.”
Perry added The Windmill has taken a financial hit due to their young crowd, who are starting to feel the pinch of London rent and can’t afford to buy as many drinks.
Perry noted a change in culture over the last couple of years, with social media propelling live music acts to fame and bypassing the GMV scene altogether.
He said: “If they want to grab their next big artist straight off a social media site that’s fine, but it won’t be as good a performance as people who have honed their trade in front of a hundred or 200 people.”
The more than 800 UK GMV’s don’t just provide live music, but also run social and education projects, community work, and cultural initiatives.
Davyd said: “A grassroots music venue is a petri dish, growing all kinds of talent and skills which eventually make the biggest acts and events in the world.
“It isn’t just about live music, it’s about community, social interaction, and finding somewhere that you feel safe.”
MVT hopes that a voluntary levy will be enough to stabilise the sector without needing to enforce a compulsory levy on live music venues.
However, Davyd expressed the struggles the trust have already faced in getting the recognition they deserve.
He said: “Some companies and individuals profit from a music ecosystem that is imbalanced or, frankly, in collapse.
“Those voices have strongly resisted a more equitable and economically sustainable version of the live music industry.
“If you were making millions, wouldn’t you?”
After fans buy their tickets, the £1 levy will go into a holding trust managed by the umbrella body LIVE.
It will then be shared with distribution bodies who represent venues, artists, and promoters before funds are allocated and monitored.
Though Perry welcomes the extra funding, he said: “For me it’s a way down the line.
“I’m not expecting to see a big wad of cash at the door on 1 April.”
