Music Venue Trust reports that 21.9million people attended Grassroots Music Venues in 2022
In their latest annual report, the Music Venue Trust (MVT) has analysed the data and found that 21,903,360 people attended Grassroots Music Venues (GMVs) in 2022. This lofty figure comes at a time when the live music industry is facing an existential crisis and GMVs are taking the brunt of it.
In the last 20 years over 35% of the UK’s GMVs have been forced to close their doors. The continual issues of support that they face was exacerbated further during the lockdown, plunging a growing number of venues into a difficult position.
However, thankfully the current findings show that attendances are back on the rebound. With 950 venues qualified as GMVs, the study found that on average, each venue presented 184 events this year, which translates into 22,784 audience visits. With an average of 40% of capacities utilised per event, this resulted in a total attendance figure of nearly 22million.
While many of the figures were down on 2019’s per-pandemic numbers, the results did show that interest is still very keen and sustainability is achievable with outside support. This is vital for a huge industry that employs almost 31,000 people and often goes neglected in the wider picture despite being able to turn profits as well as contributing hugely to local communities.
As the MVT told us recently: “GMVs are at the heart of their local communities, providing early-stage access for artists and creatives to experiment, grow their skills and develop their talent. They are the Research and Development labs of the £5.8 billion per annum UK Music Industry – a world leader in music and culture.”
Adding: “They foster and develop new talent in an open, non-profit driven model which enables creativity to flourish. In many locations, they provide an outlet for people otherwise left behind by other local creative and cultural offerings.”
As another survey by This Is Music found: “The UK music industry’s contribution to UK economy in 2021 was £4 billion. This is up 26% on the £3.1 billion figure for 2020, but still down 31% on the pre-Covid all-time high of £5.8 billion in 2019.” It is imperative for the future of the industry, that we rise towards pre-pandemic levels again, and as the MVT states, that takes proper support and investment.
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