Fightback Lager to launch crowdfunder at ILMC 33
Fightback Lager, the start-up beer brand which raises money for UK music venues, is launching a new crowdfunding bid at ILMC next week.
The company, which makes a donation Music Venue Trust from every pint sold, is the official beer partner of the International Live Music Conference for the third year running. ILMC 33 takes place in a virtual format next week (3–5 March).
“Beer and live music is one of the all-time great partnerships. We’re using that association to provide a sustainable income for Music Venue Trust from the grassroots venues it serves,” comments Fightback Brewing co-founder Rich Smith. “We’ve already proven the concept works and is well positioned for growth when audiences return to venues.
“The cultural importance and fragility of live music has never been more understood. Our vision is that on every occasion fans come together should support the foundations of live music.
“The ILMC partnership is the perfect platform to invite all levels of the music industry to invest in our crowdfund raise to share in our growth as we begin making that vision a reality.”
“The ILMC partnership is the perfect platform to invite all levels of the music industry to invest in our crowdfund raise”
Before the lockdown of March 2020, Fightback had sold more than 10,000 pints in 61 UK venues since launching in late 2018.
Its Crowdcube pitch aims to raise £200,000 in exchange for a just over 13% equity stake in the company.
“ILMC continues to be the premier opportunity for the world’s live music industry to assemble and get business done. This year’s virtual conference is no different as we focus on live entertainment’s post-Covid recovery,” says ILMC’s head of marketing, Chris Prosser.
“The grassroots scene is important to everyone. It’s great to be working with Fightback to offer our delegates refreshment and new opportunities.”
For more information or to invest in Fightback, visit www.crowdcube.com/fightback.
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100-mile bike ride to raise funds for Music Venue Trust
Chris Prosser of Music Venue Trust (MVT) and Gary Prosser of Fightback will be cycling 100 miles for charity to raise funds for MVT, they have announced.
For their birthday, the twins are looking to highlight the plight of grassroots music venues and raise funds to help the organisation.
Taking part on 6 September, the 100-mile ride will see them join their family in Westbury on the finishing line.
“ITB has already donated generously to the cause and we are hoping the industry will follow suit,” they say.
Anyone who donates will be mentioned on a special section of the MVT website.
If you would like to donate, please visit bit.ly/MVT_BIKE_RIDE.
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Fightback Lager seeking to partner with more venues
Fightback Lager – of which every pint sold goes towards protecting the UK’s grassroots venues – has announced it is looking to secure more venue and other industry partners.
Fightback Lager launched at December’s Fightback Manchester festival with a mission to support, protect and improve UK grassroots music venues. Music Venue Trust receives a donation from every pint sold of the lager, which is brewed in Manchester’s ShinDigger brewery.
The beer is now looking for more partner venues.
Fightback Lager is an official pouring partner of next month’s International Live Music Conference (ILMC), taking place from 5 to 8 March. Fightback Lager is also served in five venues participating in Fightback Bristol, a two-week festival celebrating Bristol’s vital grassroots music venues taking place until 18 February.
Fightback Bristol will see more than 100 events take place at over 14 local grassroots music venues, promoting Bristol’s emerging and existing musical talent and encouraging audiences to visit the city’s grassroots venues.
“These venues are the backbone of the live music scene in Bristol, providing spaces where artists can take their first steps, develop and grow,” says Gary Prosser, director of Fightback Brewing Company.
“Fightback Bristol provides an opportunity to showcase the fantastic range of artists and venues that Bristol enjoys, celebrating the history of our music scene and supporting its future.”
Venues can register their interest in Fightback Lager here.
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Fightback Lager announces ILMC 31 partnership
Fightback Lager has entered into a partnership with this year’s International Live Music Conference (ILMC). The craft lager will be available for thirsty attendees of ILMC 31, which takes place from 5 to 8 March.
Fightback Lager launched in December 2018 with a mission to support, protect and improve UK grassroots music venues. Music Venue Trust receives a donation from every pint sold of the 4.6% craft lager, which is brewed in Manchester’s ShinDigger brewery.
The partnership with ILMC marks an ambition to extend the Fightback campaign to a wider music industry audience. It is the latest addition to an increasing portfolio of industry supporters.
“Grassroots music venues are where great musicians start glittering careers, and too many of these venues are facing a fight to survive. Fightback Lager is an example of grassroots venues creating solutions from within the community,” says Richard Smith, activation director at the Fightback Brewing Company.
“ILMC is the perfect platform to reach an audience which understands the crucial need to support the future of live music”
“ILMC is the perfect platform to reach an audience which understands the crucial need to support the future of live music. Maybe beer is the answer!”
Gary Prosser, creative director of the Fightback Brewing Company, adds: “We see this as a great opportunity to showcase our new lager to the delegates of ILMC, to establish new relationships and create new business for our product in the live music sector.”
ILMC 31, the leading gathering of the international live music business, takes place at the Royal Garden Hotel in west London from 5 to 8 March. Register for the event here.
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This beer saves venues: Fightback Lager launches
This month sees the launch of the Fightback Brewing Company, whose Fightback Lager aims to raise funds for UK grassroots music venues.
Every pint sold of the beer, a 4.6% craft lager brewed by Manchester’s ShinDigger brewery, will go to Music Venue Trust. It launched on Friday in venues participating in the Fightback Manchester festival (16 to 30 November), and will begin rolling out across venues UK-wide from December 2018.
Richard Smith, director of the Fightback Brewing Company, says: “We’ve been blown away by the enthusiasm for a beer that financially helps the sector. It made sense to all of us to create something that reflects the independent spirit of the grassroots music venue community.”
“Every penny donated to Music Venue Trust by Fightback beer goes directly to supporting a music venue in trouble”
Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust, adds: “We are delighted that more and more companies and organisations are emerging with great concepts that can support the network of grassroots music venues to survive and hopefully thrive. Every penny donated to Music Venue Trust by Fightback beer goes directly to supporting a music venue in trouble, facing challenges or under threat of closure.“
“Fightback Lager is a natural addition to our Fightback regional events we have planned for the next year,” adds Gary Prosser who runs the Fightback events. “Any cause that can raise much needed funds to help our grassroots music venues is very welcome indeed.”
Venues can register their interest in Fightback Lager at fightbacklager.com.
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£100k for young female promoters with MVT’s FB: GP
Music Venue Trust (MVT) and media platform MusicPlanet Live have announced Fightback: Grassroots Promoter (FB: GP), a £100,000 funding scheme aimed at young women interested in making a career in live music.
FB: GP will make £100,000 in subsidy guarantees available to underwrite 100 Fightback-branded fundraising shows at grassroots music venues (GMVs) organised by young female concert promoters. The scheme, open to women under 25, will enable participants to take their first steps promoting shows without the financial risk.
“Under 25s who want to promote a show are often put off by the risk or the lack of information about who to speak to, how to get the best deal or what connections they need,” says MVT. “At the same time, grassroots music venues are crying out for new young promoters with fresh ideas. Add into that mix a lack of diversity in the music industry and it adds up to a series of barriers to young women taking up promoting and adding their unique voice and ideas to the grassroots scene.
“We are going to start the process of identifying the next wave of fantastic new independent promoters”
“MVT and MPL want to change all that with a specific initiative aimed at enabling 100 young female promoters to put on a show at their local Music Venues Alliance member grassroots music venue. FB: GP offers a no-risk financial entry point for young women to take their first step in promoting or develop their promoting skills.”
MVT will supply a toolkit and contacts that young women need to put on their show, alongside access to music industry experts for mentorship.
Beverley Whitrick of MVT says: “We want to make a big change to the independent promoter scene in the UK, enabling 100 young women to take a chance on promoting a show they believe in. With their support, we are not only going to raise money for Music Venue Trust, we are going to start the process of identifying the next wave of fantastic new independent promoters and tackle head-on diversity in this sector.
“There aren’t enough female promoters working in grassroots music venues, and we’re going to change that.
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MVT announces Fightback fundraiser
Music Venue Trust (MVT) has announced a one-off concert to raise money for a new emergency fund for small venues facing closure.
Taking place at the Roundhouse in London on Tuesday 18 October, Fightback has, says MVT’s Mark Davyd, “no artists booked and no infrastructure confirmed, because this is urgent. What’s happening to our music venues is an emergency which should concern every music fan, every musician and everybody working in the music industry in the UK.
“As of 9am this morning we genuinely don’t know who is playing. It might be me with a ukulele and a bass drum tied to my back, or it might be the biggest artist in the world. We’re asking music fans from across London to please join us for just one night to say loudly and clearly that we’ve all had enough of music venue closures and we aren’t going to put up with it any more.”
Davyd tells IQ the decision to launch the initiative so soon after the closure of Fabric is “timely, as there’s a lot of attention” on the club, but that a “lack of the best legal advice and expert opinion” is an ongoing issue that’s the “key factor closing music venues across the UK”.
“A lack of the best legal advice and expert opinion accounts for more than 50% of all the issues that come across our desk”
“To be exact, it accounts for more than 50% of all the issues that come across our desk,” he explains. “The venues don’t have the money or the information to get good advice, so they either do nothing – which is terrible – or they do the wrong thing – which is even worse – and then we find out about it and, by then, it’s already a massive problem.
“We changed the National Planning Framework to protect music venues in January 2015. The number of times this has been referenced by local lawyers or anybody else objecting to a planning application is almost exactly zero. So we need to put in place a national team who know this issue inside out and make it available to everyone.”
Tickets for Fightback will be available from Monday from the Roundhouse website, with early-bird tickets priced at £10. The price will increase as artists are confirmed.
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