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Grassroots music venues across the UK serve as essential launching pads for many successful artists, including names like Ed Sheeran, The Last Dinner Party, and Olivia Dean. These small venues play a pivotal role in fostering new talent, yet according to the annual report from the sector charity Music Venue Trust (MVT), over half of these venues (53%) failed to turn a profit last year. The music scene faced significant challenges in 2025, with thirty live venues closing their doors, including well-known spots such as Liverpool’s Zanzibar and Leicester’s The Shed. These closures not only affect the industry but also led to the loss of approximately 6,000 jobs, which accounts for nearly one-fifth of the workforce in this sector.
Despite these difficulties, there was encouraging news to report. Attendance at grassroots gigs rose by 13% in 2025, with 21 million people attending shows, a healthy increase in fan engagement. Ticket prices remained relatively stable, increasing by just eight pence from £11.48 to £11.56, and the rate of venue closures slowed to 1.2%, marking the lowest decline since 2018. Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust, highlighted this as a positive shift: “It’s definite progress compared to every other year since covid. There is a feeling of the cavalry being in sight now.” While 801 grassroots venues remained active in 2025, down slightly from 810 the previous year, this number reflects a balance where new venues opened and previously dormant ones returned to hosting music events.
The financial pressures on venue owners have been a major cause of closures, with rises in National Insurance bills adding £15 million to the industry’s wage commitments, according to MVT. The average profit margin for grassroots venues is a mere 2.5%, a figure the charity labeled as “critically low.” Davyd explained, “Even that profit figure is hiding a sad reality, which is that a lot of those venues are describing a profit when they have not paid themselves so far.” Kathryn McShane, director of Belfast’s Black Box—a venue hosting over 700 events annually—remarked on the impact of the cost-of-living crisis: “It becomes harder to sell a £25 ticket when there are other costs to consider.” She noted that the expensive nature of arena shows also limits how much music fans can spend on smaller gigs.
McShane also pointed out the difficulties for bands traveling to Belfast, saying, “Given our location, you can’t just jump in a van, you know, you need to book a flight or a boat to travel to our venue. But those costs are increasing to the point where, for a lot of artists, it’s no longer sustainable.” To cope, the Black Box has expanded its activities by offering the space for daytime corporate events, workshops, book readings, and community gatherings. McShane suggested that larger concert venues could play a role in supporting grassroots spaces, comparing it to sports where big teams often give back to their communities. The Music Venue Trust shares this vision and advocates a proposed £1 levy on tickets for large arena and stadium shows—holding more than 5,000 people—to raise up to £25 million annually for grassroots venues facing the threat of closure.
Several major artists, including Pulp, Coldplay, Wolf Alice, Katy Perry, Enter Shikari, and Ed Sheeran, have already embraced this contribution scheme. Sam Fender notably donated his entire £25,000 Mercury Prize winnings to support the fund. Key venues such as The Royal Albert Hall and the O2 Arena have also signed up, and the UK’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport has expressed full support for this initiative. While none of the funds raised have yet been distributed, MVT views the levy as a significant opportunity to reverse what they describe as “a decade of cultural retreat” in local live music. Reflecting on the outlook for grassroots venues, Davyd described himself as “in a bizarrely optimistic position” despite years of decline and urged government action to remove VAT on concert tickets. He concluded, “Live music at this level is almost frankly doomed not to make any money. But what’s interesting is the amount of money it will eventually make for the country when those artists move on in their careers. So we view this as a research and development activity, and it needs to be respected as that by government.
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
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