Before you read on, why should this matter to musical instrument manufacturers, suppliers and retailers?
It is so obvious that the MI sector should care about the future of small venues that in some ways, it actually prevents us from getting actively involved. So what do I mean by this, well clearly MI needs musicians to form bands and ensembles and to go on to play music in a live setting. We all know this, and we also know that when this happens, we see an upturn in demand for equipment and accessories.
So here’s the problem. Because this is so obvious, it means that we assume the rest of the world gets it and we don’t do any real work to reinforce the point, or highlight the message. When was the last time you contacted a local venue or offered to actively promote its upcoming events?
This isn’t intended to be anything other than a genuine question, because it looks like grassroots venues are in such real danger of extinction that we should all be doing what we can to help promote their cause.
One of the definite trends post-pandemic is that consumers want to interact with local shops and services, so now really is the right time to build a community of local musicians, venues, rehearsal studios and retailers. And do you know what, it’s a great way to drive unique engaging content for your social media channels.
(I’m sure most of you are already doing this, so please feel free to ignore any of the above – but its always worth the reminder).
Headline Statistics
On the 31st of January, Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents almost 1,000 UK grassroots music venues (GMVs) launched its 2022 Annual Report. It highlights the hugely important contribution that GMVs make to the UK economy while delivering sobering news about the challenges facing many in the sector.
As part of the report, MVT conducted a survey of the 960 members of the Music Venue Alliance (MVA), who employ over 30,000 people throughout the sector. The survey found:
- That Grassroots Music Venues staged 177,000 events in 2022, with 565,000 individual performances attracting audience visits of almost 22 million. This, however, is a decline of 16.7% from 2019 as venues were forced to make significant cutbacks to continue operating solvently.
- This decrease saw the number of events staged per week in individual venues fall from 4.2 in 2019 to just 3.5 in 2022 with only 1.97 of those identified as ticketed live music shows.
- The report also identified that in 2022, the average grassroots music venue capacity was 308, of which 40% was utilised per event, which translates to an average of 124 audience members per event. This is 11% down from 2019 when the average capacity was 51%.
- The total income from those events was over £500m but venues reported an average profit margin of just 0.2% resulting in them subsidising live music performances by around £79m last year.
What are the asks?
In the light of these findings MVT is calling on the government and the wider music industry to support the sector, which it says is “now past the tipping point.”
As part of this call to action it has highlighted the VAT applied to venue ticket sales as on ongoing barrier to profitability which is “crushing the economic viability of this sector and reducing the ability of the grassroots to create new British talent.” Currently set at one of the highest rates in the world MVT is demanding it be reduced to the average European level of 5% or preferably removed entirely.
Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust said: “We need urgent action from the government on all these factors as well as a full review of VAT on ticket sales. In short, we need a coherent long term economic plan that recognises the importance of what our members do and gives them a chance to keep nurturing up and coming artists and contributing to their local communities.”
MVT has also called for a thorough review of what it refers to as “excessive and anti-competitive” business rates, which are the result of a “completely broken” assessment system as a fundamental factor in the ongoing pressure on venues.
Mark Davyd commented, “It doesn’t make any sense for the government to continue to tax what is clearly research and development. We don’t penalise any other industry like this and we need to stop putting barriers in the way of risk taking and investment in new British talent. The spiralling cost of energy bills, rents, excessive & anti-competitive business rates, and other overheads, combined with the effects that the cost of living crisis is having on the disposable income of our audiences, means that venues are operating on razor thin margins and in many cases struggling to survive.”
Additionally, MVT have outlined plans to ensure all new arenas opening in the UK contribute to the security of the wider music eco-system by investing a percentage of every ticket they sell into the grassroots music eco-system. To illustrate this, they have issued a direct request to the City of Manchester, The Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham, Manchester City Council and all Manchester MPs to ensure that the new 23,500 cap. Co-op Live Arena, which is due to open in Manchester later this year, pledges a commitment to this initiative.
Mark Davyd said, “We cannot go on building more and more arenas with no plan of how to fill the stages they create in five, ten or twenty years’ time and without these new facilities playing their part in helping protect the grassroots eco-system. The threat is real: we need more from the music industry and we need it now, otherwise what is currently a crisis will soon become a terminal decline for venues, their staff, artists and audiences.”
To view and download the full Music Venue Trust Annual Report 2022, please click here
