Taxi app pledges £1 from every ride to save GMVs

Taxi app FREENOW is donating £1 from every ride to help save UK grassroots music venues.

With the Ride For Music initiative, FREENOW is guaranteeing a minimum commitment of £200,000 to the cause.

The scheme comes after Music Venue Trust (MVT) published a report stating that the UK is set to lose 10% of its grassroots music venues in 2023 due to issues such as the cost of living crisis.

All funds raised through Ride For Music will go to the Pipeline Investment Fund (PIF) – a grant-giving fund established by MVT with the support of the Music Venues Alliance.

PIF allows small-scale grant applications (up to £5,000) from UK-based Grassroots Music Venues to support three areas of work: improving venue viability, improvements to infrastructure and ownership investment.

“FREENOW have made it simple for you to be part of the solution, and help the whole music and nighttime economy”

The Ride For Music initiative has already garnered support from the likes of Ed Sheeran, Steve Lamacq, Ticketmaster and Academy Music Group (AMG).

“People can make a genuine difference to Music Venue Trust’s ability to prevent venue closures, support artists, crew and staff,” says Mark Davyd, founder and CEO of MVT. “FREENOW have made it simple for you to be part of the solution, and help the whole music and nighttime economy.”

This is the second year that FREENOW has joined efforts with Music Venue Trust. In 2022, the company underwrote the costs of 120 shows by independent artists in 60 venues across the UK, supporting venues and artists.

A similar initiative for grassroots venues was announced by Enter Shikari earlier this year when the band announced that they would be donating £1 from every ticket sold to their upcoming UK and Ireland arena tour to benefit the MVT.

Additionally, last week, Ticketmaster announced details of a new MVT charity upsell option that enables fans to make direct contributions to MVT when purchasing tickets for upcoming concerts.

Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.