With grassroots music venues closing at the rate of more than two a week and more than one in three making a loss, the grassroots music industry is struggling to get back on its feet since the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is a battle that many organisations across the live music industry are fighting, The Music Venue Trust very much included.
Created in 2014, The Music Venue Trust aims to secure the long-term future of iconic grassroots music venues.
They believe that these venues play a crucial role in the development of British music, nurturing local talent, and providing a platform for artists to build their careers and develop their music and performance skills.
Mark Davyd, Chief Executive of The Music Venue Trust, yesterday morning attended a meeting of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee to discuss the current state of the grassroots industry and how the issue can be resolved.
Mister Davyd described the closures of so many grassroots venues as ‘traumatic’ for the communities surrounding these venues that have lost the opportunity for live music at their doorstep, but also for the hopeful aspiring artists living amongst them.
He also expressed concern for the future of the music industry in the UK, an industry that has been bringing up exceptional talent for the past seventy years such as The Beatles, Oasis, and Blur.
“We’re a huge net exporter of music. Where does that all start? It all starts at a grassroots music venue. Even if your career didn’t start there, probably your inspiration, your aspiration started because you lived in a community with music, and if you take that away, we’re taking away the ignition engine, the starter motor of our entire music industry.”
Mister Davyd called for collaboration throughout the entire live music industry and everyone who is involved in it, stating that they all ‘have a role to play’ in improving the situation concerning grassroots music in the UK.
“The will is there,” he said, “The scale of the problem is such that we do need something much more significant and that requires everybody who is part of the live family to take action.”