Following the first national gathering organised by the Music Venue Trust late last year, the collective have unveiled the Grassroots Investor programme. Split into two phases, the programme aims to provide crisis management and direct investment to grassroots venues around the UK.
Music Venue Trust Strategic Director Beverley Whitrick explains that the “programme will employ a central legal team, acoustics team, a lobbying arm and create a central crisis fund so that collectively we do all we can so that music venue closures are halted, national policy is changed, and this sector’s needs, so clearly expressed in the report, are addressed properly by cultural strategy and by licensing, insurance and legislation.”
“A combination of low aspiration and severe under investment means we’ve ended up content to describe this sector as the ‘toilet circuit’ and accept conditions in them that reflects all that description implies. There are examples from round the world of world class venues at this level, and through Grassroots Investor we aim to work with our partners to match those standards here in the UK.”
Based on findings reported in the ‘Understanding Small Music Venues’ document, conducted by the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, the programme will support small venues who face increasing threats of closure.
“A huge proportion of the music we export, which generates thousands of jobs, develops the artistic careers of our best writers and musicians, and is such an important part of the UK’s standing on the international cultural stage, starts in a grassroots venue,” explains Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd. “This is the research and development department of our major international music industry and we have to face facts; despite the incredible passion, dedication and commitment of the people running these venues, what we’re offering at grassroots level doesn’t meet the high standards we’ve set elsewhere in UK music.”
A full copy of ‘Understanding Small Music Venues’ can be downloaded from the website, where audiences, artists and employees can express their support.