“Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours.” – Elton John
From The Beatles, to David Bowie and beyond, the last 60 years of British music would not have been so rich if it were not for independent grassroot venues in the UK. These venues play an essential role in many British bands’ rise to fame and success – bands which make our country so well respected in the music industry. The plight of the music industry in the wake of COVID-19 has meant many of those venues now face permanent closure. Could the government’s handling of the pandemic be the death kneel for one of our most important exports?
As of 2018, the live music industry alone was worth approximately £1.1 billion and music creators accounted for approximately £2.5 billion in gross value added in the same year. The industry provides over 190,000 jobs in various roles and help recognise the UK as a place to perform for all types of artists and musicians. Furthermore, between 2016-18, the industry saw a £1.1 billion increase in direct and indirect spending generated by music tourism, from £3.4 billion to £4.5 billion: thus, making this sector one of the UK’s biggest assets.
The UK is a big investor and seller of services in contrast to our exportation of products. Due to the various COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, the UK economy is at its all-time worse since records began and massively affects the live performance industry.
Following the first lockdown in March 2020, the UK government launched its Cultural Recovery Fund that allowed any cultural organisation or heritage site to apply for a grant to help staff and places get through the pandemic. The government allocated a £1.57 billion fund for all to apply to.
Although the Music Venue Trust (MVT) announced securing just over £41.3 million in funding to distribute across 259 grassroot music venues, making it an 89% success rate for the charity in helping local venues receive government funding. However, this is not enough. Currently, there are still 30 venues that are facing imminent permanent closure. The MVT have launched the campaign #SaveThe30 to raise the funds to protect those that face closure. As of 8th Jan 2021, the MVT has raised over £660,000 for those 30 venues who missed out on crucial funding from both rounds of funding from the government. They estimate they will need to raise £1,750,000 to ensure the 30 can remain as operational music venues.
It is clear nobody’s safe, with even the funded venues still facing uncertainty. With lockdown three upon us, those venues who had succeeded in securing funding in the government grant rounds are still facing challenges related to the pandemic. In response, the MVT has launched the Grassroots Music Venue Crisis Fund and as of 8th January 2021, have raised just over £37,000 to help fund the support services – ranging from tenancy issues to licensing. The MVT are ambitious and are looking to raise over £1 million to ensure that those all-important venues remain for generations to come. As Mark Davyd, CEO of the MVT, said “It’s up to us – the government may very well fail to save our venues but we as individuals can still fight for their survival.” If British citizens do not act now to help protect them, we may never find another act like Oasis, The Smiths, The Rolling Stones – the list is endless. The music we are so proud of will fall silent forever.
A Journey to the Centre of Me 