The Music Venue Trust ( MVT ) Other venue freeholds will then has launched a Charitable be identified and secured as and
Community Benefit Society when they become available ,
( CCBS ), called Music Venue and MVP will continue to raise
Properties ( MVP ), to purchase funds through selling community the freehold of grassroots music shares and borrowing against the venue properties . freeholds purchased . All rental
It said that unlike a charity , income subsequently received a CCBS can raise money via from the purchase of venues will community shares , and by be reinvested in the expansion of purchasing these shares music the portfolio . fans and ethical investors will On completion of purchase , help raise funds to allow MVP MVP will offer the majority of to buy freeholds , while also current operators an immediate receiving a 3 % APR return on rent reduction and help their investment . contribute to building repairs
According to MVT , more than and insurance , while also 35 % of grassroots music venues guaranteeing long-term security have closed in the past 20 years , and market-resistant rents . and 93 % of them are tenants with
MVT CEO Mark Dayvd said it is the typical operator only having the most ambitious initiative the 18 months left on their tenancy . Trust has undertaken : “ The
The grassroots music venue long-term security and sector has amassed more than prosperity of grassroots music
£ 90m of additional debt since venues depends almost entirely the pandemic started , with 67 % on one thing – ownership . Too of Culture Recovery Fund grant many have been at the mercy aid having been paid directly to of some commercial landlords landlords , according to MVT . whose motivations revolve
The MVP scheme will primarily around profit . We have commence with the aim of raising lost over a third of our venues in £ 3.5m to purchase the freeholds the past 20 years and with over of six venues in England , one
90 % having only 18 months left in Scotland and two in Wales . on their tenancies , we are at The first community share offer the cliff edge and could see the launched on 23 May , with a view decimation of our sector if we to buying the venues before the don ’ t do something radical end of the year . about it .”
Industry views
OCTOBER | AGENDA
“ It seems somewhat surreal that , in the midst of a cost inflation crisis , and following two years of restrictions and lockdowns , the very government that implemented these trading conditions has been exposed for its actions within the report submitted by Sue Gray . It goes without saying that trust and public confidence has been lost ."
NTIA CEO Michael Kill reacts to the Sue Gray report detailed rule-breaking parties in and around Downing Street
“ Operating within a fossil fuel-based economy , which is subsidised and favoured by many governments , and within an engrained patriarchal system that benefits a few and suppresses the many , is the biggest challenge for festivals and society at large to adopt more sustainable measures .”
A Greener Festival CEO Claire O ' Neill on the challenges of building a sustainable future for events .
" While gender inequality in music is often easiest to see on festival line-up posters , this is a problem that exists right across the talent development pipeline , with festival main stages at the very end of that process . It is an issue that the entire industry must take responsibility for .”
AIF CEO Paul Reed in response to BBC research that found only 13 % ( 26 ) of 200 headline acts at the UK ’ s 50 most popular festivals are all-female bands or solo acts .
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