13 May 2025 - Grassroots music venues - Oral evidence

Last year, the Grassroots Music Venue (GMV) sector had a combined value of £525 million, employed over 30,800 people and hosted 187,000 events with a combined total attendance of 26.6 million. Despite this, individual venues had an average profit margin of less than 0.5% and are closing at a rate of one every two weeks. The number of artists touring across the UK and abroad has also fallen by as much as 74% compared to pre-pandemic figures. 

In 2024, the previous Committee published a report calling on the sector to agree a blanket, voluntary levy as quickly as possible, charging £1 on arena and stadium tickets, to support venues, emerging artists and independent promoters. This has been widely supported within the industry, with artists including Diana Ross and Ed Sheeran driving the move forward through contributions and pledges.  

In the first part of the session, artists and sector representatives could be asked about the current state of the industry and what support they believe is needed to reverse the current issues it faces. MPs could examine the challenges faced by touring artists and may seek to understand how an increasing reliance on freelancers is impacting the sector.  

This session will allow MPs to explore the progress that has been made in the uptake of this levy, and if a statutory levy is needed. The need for greater regulation of the ‘secondary’ or resale ticket market could also be discussed. 

MPs will then question Sir Chris Bryant and the Deputy Director for the Creative Industries at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Questions could examine the impact of changes to business rate reliefs and seek clarity on what the Government hopes to achieve with its 10-Point Plan for Music.