The Music Venue Trust (MVT) has released its 2024 Annual Report, shining a spotlight on the mounting challenges faced by grassroots music venues (GMVs) across the UK. Despite notable progress—such as the acquisition of five venue freeholds and increased government recognition—the report reveals a stark reality. This decline comes at a time when the UK’s live music industry, in broader terms, is thriving. In 2023, the sector contributed a record-breaking £6.1 billion to the economy—an increase of 17% from the previous year and an impressive 35% rise from pre-pandemic levels. However, while major hubs such as London continue to flourish—accounting for nearly 31% of the industry’s economic impact—smaller cities and towns are being left behind.
GMVs staged over 162,000 events in 2024, contributing £526 million to the economy, yet they effectively subsidised live music by £162 million while operating on razor-thin margins. A concerning 43.8% of venues reported losses in the past year, with emergency response cases rising by 19%, meaning nearly a quarter of venues face the threat of permanent closure. The report underscores the urgent need for enhanced financial support and stronger protections to safeguard the sector’s future.
The following graphic from the report illustrates the different percentages for reasons for closure of these small independent venues:
In the UK live music sector, the primary touring circuit consists of locations that host more than two-thirds of national grassroots tours, typically encompassing major cities such as London, Manchester, and Birmingham. Meanwhile, the secondary circuit includes venues in smaller cities and towns that host at least one-third of national tours, playing a crucial role in supporting emerging artists and local audiences.
The report highlights a dramatic shift in the scale of UK tours over the last three decades. In 1994, the average tour comprised 22 stops; by 2024, this number had dwindled to just 11. Cities such as Leicester, Edinburgh, and Wolverhampton have disappeared from the circuit, leaving large swathes of the country—particularly in Wales and Scotland—without convenient access to live music or the nurturing environments that GMVs provide for aspiring artists.
Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, commented on the findings: “The 2024 Annual Report recognizes that after 10 years of work by MVT, a very broad consensus has been built among politicians, industry, artists, and the public that grassroots music venues must be protected, supported, encouraged, and nurtured. […] Venues, despite all the very welcome good intentions and acknowledgements they are receiving for their vital work, are still closing, still under extreme and totally unnecessary financial pressures, still failing to be recognised, as everyone agrees they should and must be, when government designs policy, taxation, and legislation. It isn’t good enough to keep saying how much we all value them, we’ve got to practically do something about it. We need action, not words.”
The report makes it clear that without decisive action, the UK’s grassroots music scene could face an irreversible decline, stripping communities of vital cultural hubs and emerging artists of essential opportunities.
