UK live music sector loses 6,000 jobs as small venues close
A nationwide UK festival this weekend is highlighting an economic crisis for grassroots music venues, where rising costs and tax changes have wiped out 6,000 jobs and forced widespread closures.
More than 2,000 acts are playing local venues across the UK this weekend for the "Everywhere At Once" festival. Organized by the Music Venue Trust, the event runs from June 26-28 and features artists like Fatboy Slim, Becky Hill and Tinie Tempah. The goal is to highlight the value of small venues at a time when the sector faces an existential threat.
The economic reality for these grassroots spaces is increasingly bleak. More than 100 small venues have closed since the pandemic, and over half of those remaining failed to turn a profit last year. Recent changes to national insurance and business rates have directly resulted in the loss of 6,000 jobs across the sector.
The damage extends to the wider nighttime economy. The Night Time Industries Association reports that 37% of nightclubs have shut their doors since 2020. "We're losing three nightclubs a month," says Tempah, who is performing in Newcastle, Norwich and Southampton for the festival.
Venue operators are battling a perfect storm of rising operational costs, restrictive noise regulations, and soaring property taxes. The rateable value of these spaces has skyrocketed by 56% since 2017. Despite this burden, grassroots venues were excluded from the government's business rates relief scheme introduced in February.
The industry is attempting to fill the funding gap through voluntary measures. Harry Styles is donating £1 from every ticket on his 12-night Wembley residency to the LIVE Trust, raising more than £900,000. Rock band Wolf Alice adopted the same model on their latest tour. However, participation remains low, with only 30% of concerts including the voluntary levy this year.
Some promoters and artists have been accused of "dawdling" on the issue. There are growing calls for the government to make the £1 stadium levy mandatory, but ministers currently prefer a voluntary approach. "I think there needs to be legislation [to protect venues], even if it's just a cut in VAT," says musician Glenn Tilbrook. "If there's no provision for low-key or cheaper entertainment, then those places will disappear."
The collapse of this tier of the industry threatens the broader music economy's future talent pipeline. Artists argue these intimate spaces are essential for developing the live performance skills needed to fill arenas. "The way the economy is now, I don't know how anybody does it anymore," says Wolf Alice guitarist Joff Oddie. "We couldn't afford to do that 15 years ago."
