MVT celebrates tenth annual Venues Day
Music Venue Trust celebrated its tenth annual Venues Day today, with more than 800 people gathering in Woolwich Works, London.
Delegates from across the UK’s grassroots music venue scene came together for a day of networking, panel sessions, seminars and celebration, in what organisers claimed was the largest gathering of people who run grassroots music venues in the world.
MVT, which represents over 800 UK grassroots music venues (GMVs), has held the one-day event since 2014, with delegates representing venues, promoters, agents, artists, government departments, funding bodies and a wide range of service providers.
Long-time MVT patron, broadcaster and chair of UK trade association LIVE Steve Lamacq delivered the keynote welcome address. Lamacq ran through a who’s who of artists he had seen for the first time “in the back room of a pub” – from The Sundays and Elastica, to the Idles, Fontaines D.C. and English Teacher.
He went on: “It’s not just about the past. What about Black Fondu from Ghana, who I interviewed last night on my 6 Music show, purely based on an amazing set he did on the Monday new band night at The Windmill in Brixton. All of them had these things in common. They all changed their destiny at some point in the course of just 30 minutes. They all started out in grassroots venues or, as I like to call them, the biggest A&R department in Britain.”
“We’re all incredibly motivated to ensure we back people on the ground with our work”
MVT used the event to provide an early look at the annual statistics for the UK GMV sector, which showed that there had been a reduction of five venues from 2023-2024, going from 835 to 830. However, the number of tickets sold had reduced from almost 20m to just over 15m in the same period.
MVT said the reduction was driven by a collapse in touring, with the costs involved meaning that tours now only visited a core group of venues. They calculate that in 1994, the average length of a tour was around 22 shows, with this dropping to 11 by 2024.
Bev Whitrick, MVT chief operating officer and producer of Venues Day, told IQ: “This is the biggest Venues Day we have ever done and in a way it feels like the end of our first ten-year cycle. We grew organically, from a discussion about whether something like MVT was even needed, and now we have this amazing community of grassroots venues from across the UK coming together to exchange ideas and build for the next period of our existence.
“We have some exciting plans for the coming years, with more programmes to deliver practical support to our members, and we’re all incredibly motivated to ensure we back people on the ground with our work.”
Headline sponsor of Venues Day, Ticketmaster, used the event to launch its annual MVT optional charity upsell across the site. When anyone purchases a ticket on Ticketmaster during October they will have the option to donate directly to MVT, with Ticketmaster matching all donations. Last year the campaign raised £90,000 for the charity.
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