As they face increasing financial struggles and closures across the UK, Ben Woolhead spotlights the urgent issues jeopardising grassroots music venues and the innovative solutions shaping their survival.
Grassroots music venues (GMVs) are, in the words of Michael Hilton of Carmarthen’s Cwrw, “the lifeblood of the music industry, playing a crucial role in nurturing local talent and fostering a vibrant creative culture”. What’s more, according to the Music Venue Trust (MVT), GMVs contribute £500 million to the UK economy annually.
Yet the burden of playing this role is often too much for the venues themselves to bear. In the last year alone, more than 120 GMVs have closed their doors – 15 per cent of the total number in operation at the end of 2022.
The challenges facing the sector are legion, but most obviously financial: steep rent increases, rising energy prices, the costs of weathering the pandemic shutdown. For David Bull – co-founder of one of Cardiff’s newest venues, the “listening-bar-cum-micro-club” Paradise Garden – “It’s no longer viable to just be a small music venue or club space anymore. The only way to survive as a business is not only to be busy all of the time, but to succeed in additional areas of hospitality such as food and coffee as well as the music.”
That too can be a major struggle, though, notes Ed Townend of Cardiff GMV the Moon. “We’ve had multiple complaints about our drinks prices being too high, but as an independent venue without the support of a brewing company, we only can sell drinks from stockists who have raised their prices beyond reasonable levels.”
The grumbles of venue visitors underline the fact that GMVs aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch. The cost-of-living crisis is impacting on audiences too, resulting in greater apathy – or reluctance to attend gigs, at least – and more last-minute ticket sales. Those, Townend points out, bring their own challenges for venues in terms of financial planning.
As regards insecurity and instability, the MVT has identified venue ownership as a critical issue: currently, an alarming 93% of GMVs find themselves at the whim of a commercial landlord. “Short tenancies and the ever-present threat of the sale of premises for redevelopment make it difficult to plan for the future. There is little or no investment by the landlord in the maintenance or sustainability of the building with the burden falling on the tenants, which they can’t afford.” Factor in business rates, specific challenges related to venue location and the eternal threat of noise-related complaints, and it’s clear that GMVs are operating in an increasingly hostile environment.
So, what can be done to alleviate the pressure? As the MVT recognises, “external sponsorship or one-off fundraising is not sustainable,” and neither is a reliance on government handouts. One of the MVT’s key proposals is a £1 levy on all arena/stadium ticket sales, with the proceeds funnelled into their Pipeline Investment Fund for disbursement to GMVs in need. The campaign has Townend’s backing: “People are happy to pay exorbitant handling fees on these tickets already, but imagine if £1 from each Taylor Swift or Glastonbury ticket went into a fund to support music venues?” The move would ultimately be in the arenas’ own interests too – as Hilton points out, without GMVs “artists may struggle to showcase their work, connect with industry professionals, and grow their careers.” In other words, never reach stadium status.
The MVT have identified at least seven new arenas currently planned in UK cities – at the time of writing – further noting that none of them have stated any meaningful plans to support the grassroots sector. One of those seven is in Cardiff – a de facto replacement for the current Utilita Arena, at roughly double its capacity – which Bull sees as an ominous prospect. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see further venue loss as a direct result of this arena, unless genuine investment is also spent on boosting and promoting those and celebrating these businesses in tandem, rather than letting them get overshadowed.”
But it needn’t be like that; arenas can be allies rather than threats. Through its House Party event scheduled for Sat 24 Feb – featuring a creative industries fair, workshops and live sets from Welsh bands including Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, Kikker, Monet and Rainyday Rainbow – Swansea Arena is hoping to raise £20,000 for the Pipeline Investment Fund. This follows the 3,500-capacity venue adopting the MVT’s proposed ticket levy in October 2023, following discussions with local GMV managers.
“From our understanding, we are the first arena in the UK to work with the MVT with year-round support, which is incredibly surprising given how prominent the ongoing issues facing the sector have been over the last year,” says Lisa Mart, venue director at Swansea Arena. “We see our involvement to date as a small step towards a bigger, more collaborative future.”
Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd commends the move. “The arena has a strong sense of its responsibilities and connectivity to its community, both the residents and the music ecosystem. They wanted to practically demonstrate that. This is the first arena to directly connect its success to the success of the music community that surrounds it. We hope their example will inspire many more.”
However, it’s not simply a matter of money. If GMVs are to enjoy long-term sustainability, then the structural problems they face require more creative solutions than simply regular injections of cash, from the Pipeline Investment Fund or otherwise. Which is where another MVT initiative, Music Venue Properties, comes in.
Described as “a national scheme set up to purchase GMVs and preserve and protect them”, it has already used some of the £2.3 million invested so far to buy the Snug in Atherton, Greater Manchester, with further acquisitions in progress. For the MVT, the logic is simple: “Almost all the issues that venues face would be alleviated if they were not commercial tenants paying high rents.”
Music Venue Properties is a UK-wide scheme, and some other possible solutions demand implementation at a national level. For instance, Bull argues that “continued business rate relief for small businesses after April is essential for all independent businesses. Any reduction in VAT for small businesses up to a certain size and turnover threshold would make a massive difference across the entire UK.” Mart, meanwhile, reports that Swansea Arena and its GMV allies are petitioning government and other national stakeholders to address the deficiencies of the late-night transport network in South Wales – deficiencies which disproportionately impact venues outside the major urban centres, such as Cwrw.
However, as Hilton notes, local authorities have a key role to play too. Bull would like to see the designation of “cultural zones in central locations” to give GMVs greater protection from noise complaints, while Mart mentions “the lack of available and affordable outdoor advertising for smaller venues” as an issue on which to press the local council for action.
As Billy Bragg once sang, there is power in a union – and for Mart, collaborative working is clearly key. “We have monthly venue manager meetings, which we are working to develop in terms of participants. The support network here provides a real understanding of the shared hurdles we all have to overcome. In particular, however, we see a huge benefit ourselves in learning from the GMVs’ experience and knowledge from years in the industry. Openness and support rather than rivalry, we’re all in this together.”
The climate may be tough, but the survival of GMVs is imperative – and thankfully there are committed people with practical solutions out there who are up for the fight.
House Party, Swansea Arena, Sat 24 Feb.
Tickets: from £10. Info: here
words BEN WOOLHEAD