Over a third of UK small music venues operate at a loss – and two of them close every week.

Hello and welcome to the latest Music Business Worldwide Podcast, supported by Voly Music – now known as Voly Entertainment.

On this podcast, MBW founder Tim Ingham discusses a crisis that's rapidly deteriorating the UK live music scene.

The Music Venue Trust is a trade body representing the interests of a vital collective of British live music venues. It’s just released a bunch of shocking statistics in its annual report – including the fact that in 2023, an average of two of the UK’s live music venues were shutting their doors every WEEK.

Amongst the venues that Music Venue Trust represents are what it calls Grassroots Music Venues, or GMVs. It surveyed 835 of these GMVs for its 2023 annual report.

These venues have an average capacity of 309 people, though that can range to a capacity over 650 people.  As mentioned, the Music Venue Trust’s latest report shows that two GMVs are shutting down per week in the UK. 

But perhaps the most shocking data point in the new report is that 38.5% of GMVs reported an annual financial loss in 2023. To repeat that: Over a third of ‘club’-sized music venues in the UK are currently operating at a loss.

On this podcast, Tim Ingham is joined by Mark Davyd, founder and CEO of the Music Venue Trust. Davyd explains how his organization intends to solve this issue – likely via a levy placed on ticket sales in larger venues like arenas and stadiums.

He also explains why this is a more complicated scenario than merely being the free market in action – and suggests that it’s only a matter of time before the UK’s live music venue crisis reaches a similar point of desperation in the United States…