From October the Royal Albert Hall will become the first 5000-plus capacity venue in the country to adopt a £1 levy on all tickets in a bid to support London’s grassroots live music scene. An estimated £300,000 a year will be funnelled into small venues, promoters, festivals and artists via funding initiative the Live Trust – and it’s hoped other large London venues will follow suit.
Rising rents, utilities and insurance costs for businesses, coupled with the rising cost of living and surge pricing for fans, and escalating touring costs for artists, have put the grassroots live music circuit on red alert. In 2023, 125 grassroots venues closed in the UK and Ireland, and the regional touring market has been in steady decline over the past three decades; on average, tours now comprise only 11 dates – down from 22 in the mid-’90s, according to a report by Music Venue Trust.
Music Venue Trust is the body that initially proposed the levy, and CEO Mark Davyd is optimistic about its potential. “We often deal with venues facing a difficult choice about continuing or closing their doors for sums as small as £5000,” he tells Broadsheet. “If you want a direct and immediate sense of the impact the money can have, imagine our ability to support 60 venues finding themselves in that position.”
But those operating on the frontline say this understates the magnitude of the problem. Keith Miller, head programmer at east London venues Moth Club and the Shacklewell Arms, estimates that £300,000 would realistically only help two struggling venues get by for six months to a year.
“I also believe local businesses need to be contributing,” he says. “Music venues are too often held up as some sort of public nuisance. [But] when Brixton Academy closed, many local businesses in the area reported drastic drops in takings. Not only are these spaces vital to musicians and their fans, but they provide the footfall that keeps many businesses’ doors open.”
Venues are facing more than financial concerns. Moth Club has accrued more than 20,000 signatures for a petition opposing planning proposals that threaten its future operations. But, Miller says, the club hasn’t yet received a response from Hackney Council. The long-discussed national “agent of change” principle – which will protect venues against noise complaints from new developments – is supposedly being pushed through, but those involved remain on edge.
“Noise complaints are a constant concern – like the monster in a horror film lurking in the shadows,” Matty Hall, programmer at The Lexington in Islington, tells Broadsheet. “Any protection against complaints is always welcome, but there’s always the concern that someone new will move in without having considered there’s a busy late-night music venue on the corner of the street.”
“Political talk is very cheap,” says Miller. “Until it’s the law, there’s nothing to celebrate.”
As far as the levy goes, Davyd says “it’s not about radically changing what [grassroots] venues are already doing. It’s about the sector realising the value of what they have been doing without support for many years.”