New levy on large scale live shows to benefit grassroots venues announced in UK
Music Venue Trust has announced a major new initiative for the UK live music industry.
A much-touted financial levy on large scale stadium and arena shows will benefit small venues, and therefore smaller artists and promoters it has been announced.
Music Venue Trust, a UK registered charity which acts to protect, secure and improve grassroots music venues, has announced that the levy has become policy instituted by the UK Government, after extended lobbying on behalf of the grassroots music sector.
“As of today, it is the official policy of the UK Government that every ticket sold at an arena or stadium should contain a financial contribution that supports grassroots music venues, artists and promoters,”
they said in a post on Instagram.
“This represents the single most significant shift in more than fifty years of British music in the basic mechanics of how the live industry financial supports new and emerging talent, the spaces which host it, and the people who take risks to present it. “
In theory, the news means that large scale concerts from the likes of Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo and Robbie Williams to name a few, will contribute to a fund that will go towards small grassroots venues like The Windmill in Brixton in London who welcomed the news, many of which have struggled to stay open in recent years due to rising costs.
The levy will require promoters who book shows in large spaces to implement it, though it’s not clear when or how as yet. The campaign and government support for it, also suggests if it is not enacted it will become a statutory levy.
The fund pot can also go towards artists and smaller promoters too.
127 grassroots venues closed in the UK between 2022 and 2023.
Comments that promoters could potentially add this cost onto the ticketbuyer baked into the ticket price, jacking up prices again, are also relevant and unclear how the levy could be easily bypassed.
Some artists, like, Sam Fender have announced they would be voluntarilysupporting the charity organisation and cause, with Fender donating £1 for every ticket sold to the Trust on his current run.
Coldplay also announced they would donate 10% of the money from their tickets sales to Music Venue Trust.
Full text below:
The Government has responded to the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee report on the Crisis at the Grassroots Music Venue Sector, released in May 2024. That report contained a number of recommendations from a cross party group of MPs on what must be done to protect live music in our communities.
The Government response is unequivocal. As of today, it is the official policy of the UK Government that every ticket sold at an arena or stadium should contain a financial contribution that supports grassroots music venues, artists and promoters. This represents the single most significant shift in more than fifty years of British music in the basic mechanics of how the live industry financial supports new and emerging talent, the spaces which host it, and the people who take risks to present it. The response from Government in the shape of Minister for Culture Chris Bryant MP’s statement and the commitments by Department for Culture, Media and Sport to see this process through is a resounding success for the advocacy, understanding and support of the grassroots music sector.
The Government’s response is so robust and unequivocal in its support for you, that it is now a question of HOW and WHEN the grassroots ticketing contribution from stadium and arenas is enacted, and not if.
The ball is firmly in the court of the music industry to quickly and voluntarily establish the mechanisms for delivering the grassroots ticketing contribution. MVT is at the centre of those discussions and having daily conversations with the individuals at the very top of the industry. And the message is clear – get around the table and get this done or expect a statutory levy.
There are many other elements to the CMS Select Committee Report which, together, create a viable, thriving, economically sustainable grassroots ecosystem. Action on Business Rates is coming, discussion on protections in planning, development and licensing for venues are ongoing. And we have not given up on the issue of VAT rates on tickets – still the highest of any similar music making country in the world.
We are working with DCMS, meeting with Government, and engaging individual MPs to continue to push on opportunities for change which can create a supportive framework for grassroots venues, artists and promoters and not one that penalises them for their work.
More from Musicweek on the topic.
