Two music venues a week closed in 2023
Plea for Government to help superstars of tomorrow
GRASSROOTS venues that helped put Britain centre stage of the global music industry are closing at an alarming rate.
Some 16% across the country shut down last year – equal to two per week – said the Music Venue Trust’s annual report.
The surviving 835 sites staged 187,000 events, featuring 1.7 million artists, and attracted audiences of 23.5 million.
Despite generating more than £500million in direct revenue, venues made just £2.5million or 0.5% profit.
But alongside cutting off the talent pipeline, the closures also mean the loss of 4,000 jobs, 14,500 potential events cancelled and 193,230 opportunities to perform and payment of around £9million being lost to musicians.
Iconic venues to close last year included Moles in Bath and Jimmy’s in Liverpool.
The report says it is imperative that all political parties address the situation in their election manifesto or our ability to produce global superstars could disappear for ever. The Daily Express’s Raise The Curtain crusade is championing the causes of the nation’s live performance venues and encouraging government action to save the industry.
Without grassroots venues stars such as The Rolling Stones, Sir Elton John, Blur, Adele or Ed Sheeran would have had nowhere to learn their trade.
Beverley Whitrick, of The Music Venue Trust, said: “2023 was the worst year for venue closures since we launched 10 years ago. We have been warning of these consequences for six years yet still the top end of the live music sector posts record profits while, with a few notable exceptions, turning a blind eye to those who discover, nurture and develop the artists that generate that revenue for them.”
One mooted solution is for booming arena venues, such as London’s O2 and Manchester’s MEN Arena, to adopt a Premier League-style funding pipeline to ensure the endangered music venues survive.
If the big players decline to voluntarily contribute then there are calls for the government to copy the French and put a 3.5% ticket levy on big shows.