FEATURE:
A Debt of Gratitude
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Ensuring Our Music Venues Survive and Flourish
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I am reacting to…
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a bit of an old news story. Well, it was published a couple of weeks back. It seems that, during a very tough pandemic, many venues are struggling, and a huge debt is about to face them. This NME article provides more details:
“It has been a tumultuous 18 months for grassroots music venues across the UK. At the start of the pandemic last March, there was the very real threat of over 500 venues facing closure. However, the vast majority have been saved thanks to public support and donations to the Music Venue Trust’s #SaveOurVenues campaign, along with pressure being put on the government and a number being saved by the Cultural Recovery Fund.
Despite the MVT’s largely successful efforts to “reopen every venue safely” with the hard work of people on the ground, it now seems that many venues remain in a difficult financial situation.
“The grassroots music venue sector is more than £90million in debt,” MVT CEO Mark Davyd told NME. “Getting that paid off isn’t going to be done this year, it likely won’t be done next year and might not be until 2024 or 2025 if things keep going as they are.
“The average debt they’re emerging with is around £80,000-£120,000 per venue – some are in much more significant debt than that.”
Davyd said that these debts were down to “landlords, suppliers, services and money that’s owed within their supply chain,” and that the best response would be for music fans to return to venues when they feel ready. He went on to praise venues’ efforts for making their spaces more COVID-safe, and for fans for taking precautionary measures – with around 95 per cent of gig-goers surveyed either being double vaccinated, having taken a COVID test before a show or having proof of immunity.
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“Venues took on a lot of work and effort to try and understand what they should do to make their spaces safe, and then they went out and did it,” Davyd told NME. “The facts are that case numbers were rising significantly and very, very high – right up until the ‘freedom day’ of July 19. Venues then opened on July 19 and, in the following six weeks, case rates went down week on week.
“The most surprising statistic of all is that they went down by 29 per cent across the country, but of the 100 grassroots music venues that we tracked in different locations it went down by 38 per cent in the locality of those venues.”
He continued: “If you like science and believe in correlation rather than causality, you could argue that if you want to reduce transmission rates then you should open more grassroots music venues. The proof is in the evidence and the fact that grassroots music venues have contributed very little to the rise in transmissions. They’ve really managed this very well with air filtration, air quality, risk management and by working incredibly hard.”
Davyd said that the best way to help venues through this period was to get back to shows, and to take a test and stay safe before doing do.
“One of the key messages of our #TakeATest campaign is that the artists, the crew, the bar and venue staff are all taking a test to make sure these shows can go ahead,” he said. “It’s only reasonable for them to expect the audience to do the same thing. Tests are free, you can get them easily from an NHS website, it takes minutes of your time and I can’t think of any reason why anyone wouldn’t do that if they want to go and see a band that they love.”
He went on: “The number one thing that people can do is go out there, go and see a show, put your money in a venue, because they know how to use it best to recover from this. If everyone who cares about live music went to one extra grassroots show a month it would completely revolutionise the economics of this sector. Just go and take a chance on something you haven’t seen before, fill up those gigs that are currently half full”.
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It is a shame that, after such a rotten time and strain for the music industry, there is this threat to venues. Let us hope that there is resolve and some form of solution very soon. I am hearing about many more gigs being put on and artists making plans. I feel like the period to the end of this year will be one for recovery and balance. Many venues are going to be in a bad place come the end of the year. With great organisations like the Music Venue Trust offering support, let’s hope that we do not see too many invaluable venues close. I feel the Government should do more in the way regarding a financial package for live venues. I know that music fans are coming out to support venues. With rent prices remaining high and this being an uncertain time, it will be a very rocky next couple of years. As the pandemic starts to calm and there are signs (for now) of stability, maybe there is some good news. As the article says, the best way for venues to recover and remain open is for people to get out there and see gigs. I am keeping an eye on this story to see how things develop, as there has been a lot of turbulence and strife for venues since the pandemic kicked off. I know that next year will be much more prosperous and positive, though we are not out of the woods yet. If you have not been to a gig in a while or are looking for ways to support your local venue, then go and see as much live music as you can. That is the way we can see rehabilitation and security for many. As we look into autumn and ahead to the year’s end, everyone hopes that the live music industry enjoys a…
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MUCH brighter time in 2022.