MVT pens open letter to government with UK losing at least one venue per week

nme.com:

NME about how the situation is “as dire as it can be” with more than one grassroots venue closing in the UK every week.Last week NME reported that the UK stood to lose 10 per cent of its grassroots music venues in 2023, as calls grew louder for the “major leagues” of the music industry and larger venues to do more to pay into the ecosystem and save them.Now, the MVT has doubled down on that call as well as shared an open letter to demand that the UK Government extends business rate relief for its members after 78 music venues closed their doors over the last 12 months, with many more set to follow.“Between us finishing our report at Friday at 5pm and coming back at 10am on Monday morning, two more venues closed,” MVT CEO Mark Davyd told NME, paying tribute to Jimmy’s in Liverpool and The Brass in Hastings, which both announced their closure on Saturday (September 23) and Sunday (September 24) respectively.A post shared by Jimmy's (@jimmys)Davyd continued: “Our report shows that we’ve gone from 960 venues in October of last year to 835 that are actually operating.

That’s 125 less and a 15.7 per cent decline. Venues haven’t just closed down, but some of them have also given up putting on live music.

The only way that they could afford to survive was to stop putting on live music and start selling pizzas.“On top of that, there is the current relief of 75 per cent off business rates.

That’s due to end on March 31, which means that venues will go back to paying the business rates they were paying in 2018. Without a doubt, that will see the sector collapse because there is no way that they can afford to pay it.