A study has found that North West England suffered the worst music venue closures in the UK last year.
The study, from music tech company A2D2, showed that 19 venues in the North West closed in 2023, followed by 17 in London, 16 in Yorkshire and the Humber, and 10 in the West Midlands. The company analysed data from the Small Music Venues Index and referenced a report from the Music Venue Trust (MVT) which stated that a total of 125 grassroots music venues in the UK shut down last year. It noted that public interest in live music has increased in recent years, despite venues struggling, with a 70% rise in searches for “grassroots music venues” in the last year.
In the UK, there are just 835 music venues left, and this is largely due to financial reasons – there’s been an average rent hike of 37.5% across venues, while overheads and energy bills have been on the increase.
A2D2 founder Peter Fealey said, “The closure of grassroots music venues across the UK is deeply concerning, yet sadly, unsurprising. With music venues still recovering from the economic cost of the pandemic, a lingering cost of living crisis, and a lack of government support, it’s not difficult to see why these cherished venues are closing.”
The West Midlands has the most grassroots venues per person, with 9.9 venues per million people. Perhaps surprisingly, London has just 6.4 per million people.
Fealey says, “These independent spaces have been the lifeblood of the UK’s music scene, nurturing emerging talent and providing a platform for diverse sounds.”
In December, Mark Davyd, the MVT CEO, told NME that 2023 had been the worst year for venue closures. He said: “It’s been the worst year ever for venue closures,” he said. “The rise of costs and energy is extraordinary and nobody seems to care, the rise in rents is just astonishing with landlords trying to make money back they might have lost during COVID by rapidly increasing rents beyond the possibility of what can be paid.”
And an MVT report from January echoed his comments, finding that grassroots venues are facing a “disaster”. This is despite, as the Trust’s COO, Beverley Whitrick, telling the House of Commons, “23.6million people visited a grassroots music venue in the UK in 2023, which is an increase on the previous year. Sometimes people say to us when they ask about closures, ‘Is it that people are not interested in going anymore?’ Of course, that’s not the case at all.
“The wish to see artists, to connect with them in small spaces in local venues is as high as it’s ever been.”
In May, the cross-party group of MPs in the Culture, Media and Sport Committee recommended a ticket levy on arenas and stadiums to help support grassroots venues and artists – something welcomed by the likes of Davyd and English Teacher vocalist Lily Fontaine welcomed.
You can check out the full report from A2D2 here.
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