Tunbridge Wells Discussion board to change into “first venue within the nation to introduce grassroots ticket levy”
Tunbridge Wells Discussion board has introduced it’s turning into the primary venue within the nation to introduce a grassroots ticket levy.
All through the month of Could, £1 from each ticket bought will probably be donated to the Music Venue Belief’s Pipeline Fund at no extra expense to gig goers.
“Now we have had a dialog right here at this time at The Discussion board and with the constructive authorities investigation into the assist of all grassroots music exercise together with the common information on the sector scenario in Manchester, we now have determined to point out simply how simple it’s to make this occur,” the 250-capacity venue wrote in a submit on Instagram.
“All through Could 2024 and at no additional value to the shopper, we will probably be together with a £1 levy on all tickets bought in that month for exhibits at our venue and the whole will probably be given to the Music Venue Belief pipeline fund. The shopper won’t and shouldn’t need to pay for this. This may be managed inside the worth of the ticket.
“This levy is one thing we must always not need to do but when a grassroots venue has the power to make this work and provides again to different venues within the UK, then the bigger venues, arenas, stadiums and festivals may do their bit for the trigger.”
Just lately, it was introduced Alien Ant Farm and CKY had change into the primary American band so as to add a £1 ticket levy to their UK excursions.
It follows an analogous transfer by Enter Shikari final yr; final Could, the band shared particulars of a 2024 run of UK tour dates, the place £1 from every ticket bought was donated to the Music Venue Belief.
Different firms have launched comparable initiatives. Impartial ticketing firm Skiddle introduced in October it might donate 50p of each ticket bought in direction of saving grassroots music venues, whereas taxi agency FREENOW pledged to donate £1 from each experience to the trigger.
Ticketmaster have launched a Music Venue Belief charity upsell choice, enabling followers to make direct contributions to MVT when buying tickets. Halifax venue Piece Corridor has additionally applied an analogous scheme.
In the meantime, the reference to the “enviornment scenario in Manchester” comes after the town’s new Co-Op Stay Enviornment confronted a sequence of disasters this week after pulling A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie‘s present last-minute resulting from part of an air conditioning unit falling from the ceiling. Because the discovery of the malfunctioning unit, exhibits for Olivia Rodrigo, Keane, and Take That have all been confirmed to have been cancelled on the Co-Op Stay.
It additionally ended up on the centre of a row after then-boss Gary Roden got here underneath hearth for saying that some smaller venues within the UK are “poorly run” and dismissed requires a £1 ticket levy on all gigs arena-sized and above.
In response, Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Belief, informed NME that he believed Roden’s feedback had been “disrespectful and disingenuous”, whereas additionally highlighting the irony of constructing such “ill-judged, pointless and deceptive” remarks on the week that their very own venue was pressured to postpone their very own launch, resulting from various logistical issues.
Nonetheless, the venue has now stated it should meet with the Music Venue Belief to debate the levy after it initially stated it wouldn’t implement it.
Final month, artists and figures from the stay music trade headed to Parliament to make the case to the UK authorities that there ought to be a compulsory £1 ticket levy on all gigs arena-sized and above, so as to safe the way forward for grassroots venues and artists.
Earlier this yr, the Music Venue Belief delivered their full report into the state of the sector for 2023, exhibiting the “catastrophe” going through stay music with venues closing at a price of round two per week. Offered at Westminster, the MVT echoed their requires a levy on tickets on gigs at enviornment measurement and above and for main labels and such to pay again into the grassroots scene, arguing that “the massive firms at the moment are going to need to reply for this”.
The Music Venue Trust (MVT) have stated that grassroots venues within the UK are heading for “catastrophe” with out intervention as extra venues face closure
Talking on a panel about the way forward for grassroots music at Manchester’s inaugural ‘Beyond The Music‘ convention on Friday (October 13), Mark Davyd, CEO of MVT, stated during the last 12 months, “127 music venues of the grassroots kind have stopped programming stay music or closed down completely” – one thing he described as a “fucking catastrophe” – regardless of the actual fact 2023 has been “the perfect yr in historical past for stay music receipts” with the trade making over £765million in 2022.