Following a meeting with the government, IQ understands the UK live music industry is edging towards a deal which would see more stadium and arena tours agree to include a contribution towards grassroots support.

Yesterday’s ministerial roundtable meeting with culture minister Chris Bryant MP followed the government’s plea to the live industry to introduce a voluntary ticket levy to support the grassroots music sector in its response to the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Select Committee’s report.

As well as key industry representative bodies, senior figures from some of the UK’s leading promoters were in attendance, including Live Nation, AEG, SJM and Kilimanjaro Live.

“The first roundtable with the minister was the culmination of a lot of hard work by the live music sector,” said LIVE CEO Jon Collins. “Our focus now is to continue to work together to put in place a robust plan for the newly launched LIVE trust and to accelerate the process of directing much needed funding to the grassroots music sector. It was heartening to hear the minister once again endorse the government’s desire to support grassroots venues, festivals, artists and promoters.”

Music Venue Trust (MVT) founder and CEO Mark Davyd also struck an upbeat tone in the wake of yesterday’s discussion.

“We want to thank the LIVE team for all the hard work to reach a consensus on pushing ahead with the much discussed grassroots contribution from every arena and stadium ticket sold,” he said. “The meeting with minister for culture Chris Bryant was a great example of the whole ecosystem pulling together to create an outcome that, ultimately, benefits all of us working in the live industry and everyone who loves live music.”

The current direction of travel stops short of the ‘levy’ called for in various industry campaigns and focuses instead on close collaboration ahead of tours, aimed at significantly increasing the number of projects that include grassroots support.

“A grassroots music fund cannot be dependent on voluntary artist donations“

However, the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) is maintaining its call for a blanket ticket levy, having previously set out its stance in its joint open letter with the Musicians’ Union in October.

“I’d like to thank minister for culture, Chris Bryant, for engaging with the sector on the grassroots music levy,” FAC CEO David Martin tells IQ. “Whilst it’s clear that there are different perspectives within the industry on how to tackle the crisis, the minister has tasked industry representatives with demonstrating they can collectively introduce a £1 levy from large arena and stadium shows, to support grassroots artists, promoters and venues, with the objective that this approach will become blanket across all shows.

“The critical word here is levy. A grassroots music fund cannot be dependent on voluntary artist donations.  Such an opt-in ad hoc system would create uncertainty and the potential for an uneven playing field for UK artists on British soil. Furthermore, it places the burden of decision-making on individual artists rather than sharing it across the industry.

“However, we welcome the attempts to try to progress the situation. We are also pleased that the whole sector has agreed that funds distributed to artists should be equivalent to those distributed to venues, in order to stimulate vital performances and industry growth.”

Bryant said earlier this month that the government wants to see ‘tangible progress’ by the first quarter of next year to meet the timeline of increased grassroots support coming in as soon as possible for concerts in 2025. While IQ understands that the minster expressed his understanding that with many 2025 tours now announced it may take some time for new schemes to come onstream, he reiterated the threat of potential statutory action if insufficient progress is made.

MVT announced in November that it is teaming with live music advocate Save Our Scene to launch the Liveline Fund to handle donations to the grassroots ecosystem from companies, organisations and artists.

Frank Turner recently became the latest artist to donate £1 from every ticket sold for his upcoming UK tour to support local independent music venues, following similar pledges from acts such as Sam Fender, Katy Perry and Coldplay, who will donate 10% of proceeds from their 2025 stadium concerts in England to the MVT.

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The Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) and Musicians’ Union (MU) have spoken to IQ after jointly penning an open letter calling for a blanket ticket levy to share the cost of investing in the future of the UK live scene.

In the midst of a “cost of touring crisis”, the government is expected to respond imminently to the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) committee’s report on grassroots live music, published in May, which called for a process for an arena-level levy to safeguard grassroots venues to be put in place “before September 2024”.

But despite Coldplay pledging to donate 10% of proceeds from their 2025 UK stadium dates to the Music Venue Trust, and Sam Fender vowing that £1 from every ticket sold for his upcoming UK shows will go to the organisation, a levy is yet to come to pass.

The LIVE Trust, an industry-created charitable body which would collect and distribute funds, is currently in the process of being set up with the UK charity regulator.

As a result of the delay, FAC CEO David Martin, who gave evidence to the CMS committee alongside Lily Fontaine from Mercury Prize winners English Teacher, says he is “increasingly concerned about the direction of travel”.

“Today, we call on the government to help get this conversation back on track to deliver the £1 ticket levy that grassroots live music so desperately needs,” he says.

Moreover, the organisations insist that “just supporting venues in itself will not save grassroots music”.

“The entire ecosystem needs support, and especially the artists and musicians who perform on the stages in those venues,” says the letter. “This is how we will develop new artists and audiences, ensuring that it’s viable for artists to progress through the live sector – from grassroots venues to arenas.”

“We urgently need to see the introduction of a robust and sustainable funding mechanism, allowing artists to carry out tours without significant risk”

The FAC and MU argue the levy must be implemented on a blanket basis “so that the responsibility is shared across all of those that contribute to the live industry”.

“While it is remarkable that some artists have voluntarily come forward to offer individual support, this burden should not be placed at the door of individual, British artists on an ‘opt in’ basis,” they say. “This blanket approach will ensure a level playing field for UK artists and that the whole of the live sector shares the cost of investing in the future of live music in the UK.

“Unless we return to the consensus position of May 2024, where the entire grassroots sector can benefit from a ticket levy, we risk causing irreparable harm to British music. We are encouraging artists, fans and the wider industry to show their support for this open letter by signing our petition.”

Kelly Wood, head of live at the MU, adds: “If artists can’t rely upon a healthy and financially viable grassroots live sector, the industry as a whole suffers. We urgently need to see the introduction of a robust and sustainable funding mechanism, allowing artists to carry out tours without significant risk. Without this kind of support, we will lose artists from the music community, and the talent pipeline will be severely disrupted.”

Speaking to IQ, the pair explained what would happen if an artist declined to participate in the scheme, or preferred to support a cause of their choosing with a ticket add-on.

“We support a blanket, industry-wide levy to be implemented by the live sector in order to ensure that the whole ecosystem contributes”

“We support a blanket, industry-wide levy to be implemented by the live sector in order to ensure that the whole ecosystem contributes, and to avoid individual artists being burdened with the decision about opting in,” they say. “Where that can’t be agreed, we will campaign for a government intervention.

“Artists are of course free to support any cause that they wish, and already do. Additionally, there are already a number of fees and levies placed on tickets which are not voluntary and which artists have no say over the distribution of.”

Martin and Wood say a £1 levy, implemented on a blanket basis, would provide clarity on the collection mechanism, the amount and the purposes it is used to support, as well as ensuring it can be used to support the grassroots in its entirety.

“Furthermore, any Trust or body that is set up to distribute the level should have significant representation and expertise from the artist community, to ensure that the distribution of any levy is done in a manner that adequately supports grassroots artists,” they tell IQ.

The duo say they remain supportive of the creation of the LIVE Trust “as a vehicle for collecting and distributing a levy”, though the open letter expresses concern over the industry’s “ability to enact the mechanism voluntarily”.

“In its absence, donations made by arena-level artists won’t necessarily lead to direct funding opportunities for artists performing at grassroots level,” it concludes. “Therefore, we believe that the government should retain the option to intervene and implement a statutory levy. Our organisations will campaign to bring forward such steps if necessary.”

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Tunbridge Wells Forum in Kent says it is becoming the first venue in the UK to introduce a grassroots ticket levy.

Throughout the month of May, £1 from every ticket sold will be donated to the Music Venue Trust’s (MVT) Pipeline Fund at no additional expense to customers.

The 250-capacity venue is owned by MVT CEO Mark Davyd and run as a Community Interest Company.

“We have had a conversation here today at The Forum and with the positive government investigation into the support of all grassroots music activity along with the regular news on the arena situation in Manchester, we have decided to show just how easy it is to make this happen,” the venue wrote in a post on Instagram.

The levy, proposed by MVT and backed by artists and managers, was aimed at UK live music events above 5,000-capacity but The Forum says that “if a grassroots venue has the ability to make this work and give back to other venues in the UK, then the larger venues, arenas, stadiums and festivals can also do their bit for the cause”.

“The larger venues, arenas, stadiums and festivals can also do their bit”

A proposed levy could take three forms. A statutory levy imposed by government, an industry-mandated levy on all qualifying shows (which LIVE CEO Jon Collins pointed out might fall afoul of competition law) or a voluntary levy adopted by different artists, venues or promoters.

Recently, it was announced Alien Ant Farm and CKY had become the first American bands to add a £1 ticket levy to their UK tours – following in the footsteps of Enter Shikari.

Elsewhere, independent ticketing company Skiddle announced in October it would donate 50p of every ticket sold towards saving grassroots music venues, while taxi firm FREENOW pledged to donate £1 from every ride to the cause.

Ticketmaster introduced a Music Venue Trust charity upsell option, enabling fans to make direct contributions to MVT when purchasing tickets, and Halifax venue Piece Hall has also implemented a similar scheme.

Increased calls for a compulsory levy come after MVT revealed in its annual report that 2023 was the worst year for UK venue closures since its launch a decade ago, with 125 venues closing their doors – a rate of two per week – and 38% of members reporting a loss.

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