Light at the End of the Tunnel

Music Venue Trust statement on the Government response to the CMS Select Committee Report on Grassroots Music

The Government has responded to the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee report on Grassroots Music Venues, released in May 2024. That report contained a number of recommendations from a cross party group of MPs on what must be done to protect live music in our communities.

You can read the Government’s press release here and the Government’s full response to the CMS Select Committee report here.

 

The Government response is unequivocal. It is now the official policy of the UK Government that every ticket sold at an arena or stadium should contain a financial contribution that supports Grassroots Music Venues, artists and promoters. This represents the single most significant shift in more than fifty years of British music in the basic mechanics of how the live industry financial supports new and emerging talent, the spaces which host it, and the people who take risks to present it. The response from Government in the shape of Minister for Culture Chris Bryant MP’s statement and the commitments by Department for Culture, Media and Sport to see this process through is a resounding success for the advocacy, understanding and support of the grassroots music sector.

The Government’s response is so robust and unequivocal in its support for GMVs, that it is now a question of how and when the grassroots ticketing contribution from stadium and arenas is enacted, and not if.

 

The ball is firmly in the court of the music industry to quickly and voluntarily establish the mechanisms for delivering the grassroots ticketing contribution. MVT is at the centre of those discussions and having daily conversations with the individuals at the very top of the industry. And the message is clear – get around the table and get this done or expect a statutory levy.

There are many other elements to the CMS Select Committee Report which, together, create a viable, thriving, economically sustainable grassroots ecosystem. Action on Business Rates is coming, discussion on protections in planning, development and licensing for venues are ongoing. And we have not given up on the issue of VAT rates on tickets – still the highest of any similar music making country in the world.

We are working with DCMS, meeting with Government, and engaging individual MPs to continue to push on opportunities for change which can create a supportive framework for grassroots venues, artists and promoters and not one that penalises them for their work.

Thank you to everyone who wrote letters to their MPs, supported our campaigns, posted, tagged, shouted or just simply told someone that this actually matters to our live music community. We can be confident that from April 2026 the operating climate for GMVs will have dramatically improved. Music Venue Trust is now laser focused on the challenges of the next 18 months, the period before this long needed help can really arrive.