Over a third of UK small music venues operate at a loss – and two of them close every week.

Hello and welcome to the latest Music Business Worldwide
Podcast, supported by Voly Music – now known as Voly
Entertainment.
On this podcast, MBW founder Tim Ingham discusses a
crisis that's rapidly deteriorating the UK live music
scene.

The Music Venue Trust is a trade body representing the interests
of a vital collective of British live music venues. It’s just
released a bunch of shocking statistics in its annual report –
including the fact that in 2023, an average of two of the UK’s
live music venues were shutting their doors every WEEK.

Amongst the venues that Music Venue Trust represents are what it
calls Grassroots Music Venues, or GMVs. It surveyed 835 of these
GMVs for its 2023 annual report.

These venues have an average capacity of 309 people, though that
can range to a capacity over 650 people.  As mentioned, the
Music Venue Trust’s latest report shows that two GMVs are
shutting down per week in the UK. 

But perhaps the most shocking data point in the new report is
that 38.5% of GMVs reported an annual financial loss in 2023. To
repeat that: Over a third of ‘club’-sized music venues in the UK
are currently operating at a loss.

On this podcast, Tim Ingham is joined by Mark Davyd, founder and
CEO of the Music Venue Trust. Davyd explains how his organization
intends to solve this issue – likely via a levy placed on ticket
sales in larger venues like arenas and stadiums.

He also explains why this is a more complicated scenario than
merely being the free market in action – and suggests that it’s
only a matter of time before the UK’s live music venue crisis
reaches a similar point of desperation in the United States…