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EMERGENCY RESPONSE
PIPELINE
INVESTMENT FUND

A Message in Response to The Welsh Government’s New Budget Announcement

Please watch this important response from our CEO, Mark Davyd, to Welsh Government regarding their budget announcement:

Contact your MP through writetothem.com and share your opinon.

Please see Mark’s letter, and Dawn Bowden’s response, below.

Dear Minister,

I’m writing to you to follow up our initial letter in January 2024, regarding the announcement in December that Business Rates relief for pubs, shops and restaurants is due to be cut from 75% to 40%.

We would like to thank you for your response and, while we recognise the extraordinary pressures that the Welsh Government faces to deliver this budget, it is counter intuitive to pursue this measure within the grassroots music sector.

Cutting Business Rates relief will have a direct impact on the number of events that will be staged in Wales, reducing supply, cutting economic activity, and negatively impacting on jobs, especially in the ‘gig economy’.

The gross profit from the entire sector in Wales in 2023 was £119,000. The proposed fall in rates relief creates a new additional cost of £127,000.

If signed off as planned, this single measure puts the sector, as an entire network, into the red. It places the long-term resilience of Welsh Grassroots Music Venues (GMVs) at a severe and direct competitive disadvantage when compared to their cultural counterparts in England that will continue to be entitled to rate relief, resulting in very significant national disparity between costs associated with touring.

37 Grassroots Music Venues in Wales (77%) are subject to the increase in costs, allowing for all models of rate relief.

The demand for rate payment increases falls disproportionately on venues already identified by Music Venue Trust as those most at risk of closure due to their legal infrastructure, location and business model.

The value of the increase by venue is such that it will present an immediate threat of closure to 16 venues – 33.3% of all the venues in Wales.

If these 16 venues close, the direct cost to the rates budget would be £153,679. Only 12 of these venues would need to close before the total raised from the predicted increase delivered by this budget measure (£127,000) would be eliminated by business closures.

588 jobs, £8 million of economic activity, 3500 events and 30,000 performance opportunities for musicians are at direct risk from this measure.

The closure of a single venue represents a huge loss to the local community, to the music sector, and to the future of Welsh talent. The closure of 16 would be a catastrophe to the Welsh grassroots music scene.

We recognise concerns that the wider hospitality and nightlife sectors may ask for similar consideration if Grassroots Music Venues are granted an exemption. This is, however, a clearly defined sector with specific characteristics, already recognised by the Welsh government during the delivery of Covid relief measures.

Support to manage the issues the Welsh budget presents to these venues can be ring fenced as a specific cultural infrastructure measure which acts upon the defined characteristics of a Grassroots Music Venue.

Welsh Grassroots Music Venues deserve to be operating within a level playing field and therefore we strongly urge you to act to conserve the current rate of Business Rate relief for GMVs in Wales.

We would be pleased to meet with you to discuss this further. Please let us know via musicvenuetrust@connectpa.co.uk and we would be delighted to arrange.

Yours sincerely,
Mark Davyd
CEO
Music Venue Trust

 

Dear Mark Davyd,

Thank you for your invitation for a meeting to discuss conserving the current rate of Business Rate relief for Grass Roots Music Venues (GRMV) in Wales, which you feel will cause further closures of GRMV’s in Wales.

I can advise we will be investing an additional £78m to provide a fifth successive year of support for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses with their non-domestic rates bills. This builds on the almost £1bn of support provided through our retail, leisure and hospitality rates relief schemes since 2020-21.

Eligible ratepayers will receive 40% non-domestic rates relief for the duration of 2024-25. As in previous years, the relief will be capped at £110,000 per business across Wales. This temporary relief was never intended to continue indefinitely and our move to more frequent revaluations will ensure that non-domestic rates bills better reflect up-to-date market conditions for all sectors of the tax-base.

The Draft Budget for 2024-25 has been developed in the context of the toughest financial situation we have faced since devolution and a settlement which is not sufficient to respond to all the pressures our budget, Welsh public services, businesses and people are facing. We have had to make some very difficult decisions to refocus funding towards core, frontline public services.

Unfortunately, I’m unable to meet you however I understand my officials from Creative Wales met with you recently and I’m keen that you retain that close working relationship to ensure all parties stay abreast of the news pertaining to GRMV’s, such as the recent announcement concerning the £718,000 capital investment Creative Wales has offered to 17 GRMV’s across Wales.

Yours sincerely,
Dawn Bowden AS/MS
Dirprwy Weinidog y Celfyddydau, Chwaraeon a Thwristiaeth
Deputy Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism

 

Music Venue Trust Launch Annual Report

16% of UK Grassroots Music Venues Lost in Last 12 Months – 125 Spaces Permanently Closed to Live Music

38% of Remaining Venues Post Financial Loss – Whole Sector Records 0.5% Profit Margin on £501m Turnover Despite Increased Ticket Demand

“It’s Time To Stop The Excuses”


To access the full Annual Report please click here.

Music Venue Trust (MVT) has launched its 2023 Annual Report, which highlights the important contribution that its members make to the UK economy while painting a stark picture of the challenges still facing the overwhelming number of live music spaces.

With 125 GMVs shutting at the rate of two per week last year, this report throws into sharp focus the contrast between those companies and artists at the top end of the live music sector currently enjoying record revenues and profits, and the remaining Grassroots Music Venues, 38% of which reported a loss in 2023 despite an increased demand for tickets.

A survey of the remaining 835 members of the Music Venues Alliance (MVA) found that they staged over 187,000 events in 2023, with 1.7m individual artist performances attracting audience visits of over 23.5m. However, despite generating over £500m in revenues, GMVs made just £2.5m or 0.5% profit for the period.

This report also details how the whole sector would have operated at a loss during this period. In total the amount that GMVs are subsidising live music rose from £79m in 2022 to £115m in 2023, an increase of £36 million or 45% over the previous 12 months.

With energy costs remaining high and rent increases averaging 37%, 164 member venues accessed the MVT Emergency Response Service which, for the first time since the organisation’s launch a decade ago, found that the primary cause of venue closure was a lack of financial viability.

 

Moles Bath Logo

Legendary Music Venue Closes After 45 Years

Moles In Bath, Where Oasis, Eurythmics, Radiohead, Ed Sheeran And More First Played, Files For Insolvency

Music Venue Trust Repeats Calls For Live Music Industry To Stop The Devastation Of Grassroots Music Sector.

One of the best-known Grassroots Music Venues in the UK, Moles in Bath, has filed for insolvency stating that the rise in costs and overheads and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis have made it impossible to continue. The venue has permanently closed its doors with immediate effect; all future events are cancelled.

Since opening its doors in 1978, Moles has earned legendary status hosting and championing live music from acts on both a global and local scale. Countless festival and stadium headliners including Ed Sheeran, The Killers, Fat Boy Slim, Oasis, Blur, Radiohead, The Smiths and Idles have played at the 220-capacity venue during the early stages of their careers.

 

 

FREENOW Launches ‘Ride for Music’ Initiative, Pledging £1 Per Ride To Save Grassroots Live Music Venues With MUSIC VENUE TRUST

Ed Sheeran, Steve Lamacq, Amy Lamé, Academy Music Group (AMG) and Ticketmaster join the sector in supporting the initiative

Live gigs are the top occasions adults choose to spend their money on (63 per cent), according to research commissioned by mobility super app FREENOW. The research coincides with the launch of FREENOW’s ‘Ride for Music’ initiative, pledging £1 for each taxi ride to Music Venue Trust – all users need to do is ‘opt in’ to ensure the donation is made, at no extra cost to them. FREENOW has guaranteed a minimum commitment of £200,000 to save struggling venues impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.

 

 

The Snug in Atherton, Greater Manchester Becomes First Acquisition Under #OWNOURVENUES Scheme

Music Venue Trust has announced the first acquisition under its groundbreaking #OWNOURVENUES scheme.

The Snug in Atherton, Greater Manchester, a 100 capacity venue, has become the first Grassroots Music Venue (GMV) purchased by Music Venue Properties (MVP), the independent Charitable Community Benefit Society (CCBS), created by Music Venue Trust to progress its plans to revolutionise cultural ownership in the UK.

The official launch event and unveiling of a commemorative plaque, was held at The Snug, attended by many of those who have helped bring this initiative to fruition including Mark Davyd, CEO and Founder of Music Venue Trust, The Snug’s owner/operator Rachael Flaszczak, John Whittingdale, Minister for Creative Industries, Claire Mera-Nelson Director of Music for Arts Council England, Rhoda Dakar & Chris Prosser of the Music Venue Properties Board. Local musicians were also in attendance – Ivor Novello winner Jamie Lawson and 16 year old Jennifer King who is a shareholder in MVP.

 

 

RESPONSE TO THE CHANCELLOR’S AUTUMN STATEMENT

Music Venue Trust warmly welcomes the continuation of the 75% relief to Business Rates for Grassroots Music Venues announced by the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, in the Autumn Statement. The potential cancellation of this relief presented the possibility of an additional £15 million in pre-profit taxation falling onto a Grassroots sector suffering a severe crisis; over 100 venues have already closed in the last 12 months. It was essential to keep this relief in place and we are pleased that our presentations to Treasury were listened to and acknowledged by this outcome. We hope that this further extension into 2025 for this relief will provide the necessary window of opportunity for the government to complete the full review of Business Rates on Grassroots Music Venues which it committed to in January 2019.

In his statement, the Chancellor also announced a significant uplift to minimum wage. The grassroots sector is notoriously undervalued and underpaid, from the artists performing through all levels of roles and staffing, up to and including the venue operators themselves – in 2022, the average Grassroots Music Venue operator paid themselves £20,400 per annum, delivering 66 hours of work per week at a rate of £6.43 per hour. An uplift to fees and wages across the sector is long overdue. We look forward to working with the Chancellor, HM Treasury and DCMS to identify the necessary funding which can deliver this statutory increase to minimum wage and extend the scope and scale of it so that everyone in the Grassroots Sector can be adequately rewarded for their work.

News

Extra money to support artists and venues as touring and infrastructure costs spiral

Music Venue Trust (MVT), has warmly welcomed a new £5million investment in Grassroots Music Venues announced by Secretary of State for Culture Lucy Frazer. The additional funding will be made available over 2 years through the Supporting Grassroots Live Music Fund administered by Arts Council England.

The Government’s Creative Industries Sector Vision, describes the Grassroots Sector as “the lifeblood of our world-leading music sector and cornerstones of communities” and recognises the urgent need for direct financial support that addresses the collapse in touring.

 


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Support Music Venue Trust

Hear from some of Music Venue Trust‘s patrons – Frank Turner, Nova Twins, Holding Absence, Sarah Gosling, Enter Shikari, Bob Vylan, Kawala, James And The Cold Gun and Steve Lamacq. Support Grassroots Music Venues by supporting our work at Music Venue Trust:
1. Donate to our Emergency Response Service.
2. Engage with our posts on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. Like, save, share and comment – join in the conversation.
3. Buy MVT merch from our store.
4. #GoLocal by attending gigs at your local Grassroots Music Venue instead of travelling into the city.

MVT Regular Donors

MVT would like to thank the following companies who support our work with regular donations:
The O2, Fred Perry, Strings & Things Ltd., Fightback Lager, Manchester Academy, Ether Tickets, Gigtix, TicketPort.
If you would like to donate to support the work done by Music Venue Trust, please donate here.