Grassroot music venues facing "full blown crises"
The director of the Wimborne’s Tivoli Theatre has called on the government to launch another cultural recovery initiative, amid the cost-of-living crisis
The Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne has told us grassroot music venues are “in the middle of a full-blown crises”.
125 live music venues shut their doors in the last 12 months resulting in the loss of 4,000 jobs, almost 200,000 performance opportunities and £59 million in direct economic activity.
Now, the Music Venues Trust is calling on the chancellor to extend the existing 75% Business Rate Relief beyond April 2024.
Charlie North-Lewis, director of the Tivoli Theatre, feels the sector has been overlooked in recent years.
He said: “It seems that theatres and cinemas aren’t really that important, we seem to be forgotten a lot, and it took a while for the government to realise that we are very important, and it is a big industry.”
15.7% fewer venues are an immediate economic, social, and cultural blow to the 125 local communities that have lost access to live music.
Grassroots music venues are seen to bond communities together and in many cases highlight the talented performers in a region and “support the next wave of British talent”.
Mr North-Lewis believes the government should launch another cultural recovery initiative, amid the cost-of-living crisis.
He told us what business has been like since the pandemic: “It’s been very difficult and quite stressful because we weren’t sure whether we'd survive or not. I don't think anybody knew because shows that traditionally did really well just weren't getting the audiences.”
In 2022, the entire sector returned a profit margin of just 0.2%, £1million in cash terms on a total turnover of £500 million.
The current 75% Rates Relief protects grassroots music venues from an “excessive” taxation and stopping it would increase costs to the sector by £15 million.
In a statement, the Music Venues Trust wrote: “If you remove the Rates Relief, you will plunge the entire grassroots sector into the red. Venues must and will close as a result. Even more local communities will lose their access to live music. Artists will have nowhere to start their careers.”
Mr North-Lewis added: “People are a little more selective in what they watch because the cost of living and we try to keep prices as reasonable as possible but when everything else is costing more, we have to put our prices up.”