Ticket Levy: What this means for grassroots music venues

A historic move to ensure the sustainability of grassroots music venues has been made, which sees a £1 voluntary ticket levy imposed, something The Snug in Atherton has welcomed.

The British government has taken a landmark step to ensure the sustainability of the grassroots music sector by backing a voluntary ticket levy on stadium and arena shows.

This aims to secure the future of the grassroots music scene, which came as a response to a recommendation by the Culture, Media, and Sport Committee. It would allocate a small portion of ticket sales from large-scale events to grassroots music venues (GMV), promoters and artists.

The Creative Industries Minister, Chris Bryant, said as part of the statement: “Grassroots music venues are one of the UK’s most valuable and yet undervalued cultural assets. That is why I’m urging the industry to voluntarily introduce a ticket levy on the biggest commercial players to help ensure the health and future success of our entire live music industry for decades.”

Which will extend through to hospitality venues who have live music at the heart of their businesses. Venue owners can apply for this levy by qualifying as a Grassroots Music Pub or a Grassroots Music & Arts Space, as at the core, both are recognised for their contribution to the talent pipeline, by hosting emerging artists on their stage to hone their craft and build a community around their music.

The UK music scene has lagged behind in support. Countries like France have implemented a mandatory 3.5% ticket levy, generating €200 million for smaller venues, and similarly, the Premier League has channelled over £2.2 billion into grassroots football since 2000. This funding model has helped secure the sustainability of those sectors - something urgently needed in UK grassroots music, especially after the sector endured its most challenging year, with 125 GMVs closing their doors in 2023, including beloved Moles.

This comes as a lifeline for GMVs

A lifeline made possible by the Music Venue Trust (MVT), which has been instrumental in providing support for GMVs across the country and has successfully distributed over £4m to the sector in the last two years. They have since described this move as ‘the single most significant shift in the UK music industry in over 50 years.’

Their contribution to the sector goes beyond lobbying decisions and bringing questions to light, as over the past few years, they have begun to secure the future of GMV facing closures through their 'Own Our Venues' campaign to protect these cultural spaces.

The scheme purchases the freehold of the venue and provides more long-term security. This has seen The Ferret in Preston, The Bunkhouse Swansea, and the most recent being The Booking Hall in Kent.

But their first venue acquisition was The Snug in Atherton, Wigan, in 2022.

The Snug doubles down as a laidback coffee shop during the day, transforming into an electric live music performing space in the evening, shining a spotlight on the emerging musicians coming out of Wigan, and has since hosted Tom Hingley, The Facades, Loose Articles and Montello.

Speaking to GigPig, the Event Manager for The Snug, Ben Morgan, said: “The ticket levy is important as the government has recognised the importance of the grassroots music scene, which shows that we are integral to what the government sees as a major British export.

“They understood the importance of grassroots music venues and the ecosystem of the music scene. In the last few years, running a venue wasn't necessarily financially viable. But just because something is not financially viable doesn't mean it's not worthy of support.

“But the idea that more touring artists will be able to come through our venue is incredibly exciting. They will be able to play in Manchester, maybe do a warm-up show at the Snug, and will be able to afford it because of all the money that's coming out of the levy.”

This will maintain sustainability, as without these smaller venues, emerging artists haven’t got a place to perform. They’re unable to hone their craft, develop their sound, build that experience, and ultimately climb the ladder of the industry to one day fill up the slots on the festivals.

Without this, there will be a pipeline issue of talent.

The fundamental aspect that needs to be implemented to ensure the ticket levy system is successful is a strict deadline. Originally scheduled for September 2024, the deadline has been pushed to 2025 with no fixed date. So your guess is as good as ours when wondering what ‘as soon as possible’ means.  

In the meantime, GMVs face additional challenges come April. Rising National Insurance contributions, an increase in the minimum wage, and reduced business rates relief will drive up costs, further straining their budgets.

Whilst ticket levies are fundamental to maintaining grassroots music venues, the industry needs to be addressed as an ecosystem as a whole to ensure this remains fair amongst artists, venues and promoters of all sizes, which is something Michael Kill echoed to GigPig.

When speaking to the CEO of Night Time Industries Association, he said: “It’s really important that we start to encourage grassroots music in particular, but we also need to address it as an ecosystem.

“I think all of it should be supported in all its different guises. Whether you're talking about comedy, live music or electronic music. They're all vitally important.

“We've got to think beyond the grassroots. We've got to think about the intermediate venues, which probably have a bigger challenge at the moment in terms of their sustainability, and catch up on the talent pipeline. We've got a huge gap at the moment, and we need to make sure that we've got a platform to perform. Online is great, but the physical experience is second to none.”

Measures are still being implemented to bridge that gap until the levy is introduced and to maintain some sustainability. Coldplay, Sam Fender and Katy Perry will give £1 per ticket to grassroots music as part of their headline tours next year.

Additionally, Albert Hall in Manchester will equally donate a pound, Ticketmaster have now included an optional donation, and for those venues in Bristol, their Night Time Economy Advisor, Carly Heath, set out plans to include a levy for venues, which will bring in an estimated £1 million for grassroots venues.

If implemented effectively, the ticket levy could be a game-changer for grassroots venues, offering much-needed financial stability.

“We just need to hopefully get through this period from now until the money starts coming in, then it should mean it's pretty difficult for venues to close down,” Ben added. “The money's there when people need it for financial viability struggles.

“I think one of the biggest and slightly indirect models that are going to be going forward is a lot of the money is going to be used to support touring artists, which will indirectly support venues because it means that more artists can go to more venues on their tours and they aren't just going to the usual cities.

“So the more acts that can go on tour and explore different locations, the more they develop audiences for the artists to find their local venues.

“But any money that is contributed to the grassroots scene, whether that's directly to venues or indirectly through artists touring or helping bring down electricity prices and gas prices, then it's all really well received,” Ben concluded.

It’s important to note that the investment that GMVs put into the music industry far outweighs the return it makes in ticket sales. MVT reported that the venues invested £248 million in hosting live music, supporting the careers of tens of thousands of musicians.

From that, they generated £134 million in ticket income.

There is a clear need for intervention and further support for the grassroots music scene to avoid a repeat from 2023. That support will come from the ticket levy, but when that comes in is anyone's guess.

The sooner the better.