Music Venue Trust partners with Ticketmaster to support UK grassroots venues

In a move to bolster support for ‘struggling’ grassroots music venues across the UK, Ticketmaster has announced a Music Venue Trust (MVT) charity upsell option, enabling fans to make direct contributions to MVT when purchasing tickets.

As a long-time supporter of MVT, this initiative coincides with Ticketmaster’s ongoing sponsorship of Venues Day, a role proudly held since 2016. The upsell will launch on Venues Day 2023 (October 17) and run for an entire month, giving millions of Ticketmaster users the chance to contribute.

Importantly, Ticketmaster has committed to match all donations received and run this upsell annually, representing a significant step in our commitment to sustaining UK grassroots venues.

Mark Davyd, MVT Founder & CEO, commented: “This upsell provides a practical method for fans to support grassroots music venues, and we are incredibly grateful to the Ticketmaster team for putting it in place.

“Ticketmaster matching all fan donations is a powerful message for the whole industry about the support our sector needs and the will of the music community to provide it. Ticketmaster has been a long-term and committed partner of MVT, and their core support has been vital in developing us as the authentic voice of grassroots venues, artists and fans.”

Davyd also commented on the current state of the industry, adding: “We believe that live music fans understand exactly how vital these venues are to the future of our whole music ecosystem and how much financial difficulty they are currently facing.”

“127 grassroots music venues have closed in the last 12 months – more than one is permanently closing every week.” Davyd called for a collective effort from the government, the music industry, artists, and fans to prevent further closures and reverse this alarming trend.

Looking ahead to Venues Day 2023, Davyd shared: “This year’s Venues Day is bigger than ever, with more venues attending, more delegates, more partners, and more on offer. Our goal is to match the size of the event with the size of ambitions for what is delivered on the day, and what we can bring to the sector.”

Ticketmaster’s MVT charity upsell marks another significant step in its commitment to sustaining these essential cultural spaces that are so vital for the entire live music ecosystem.

Last week saw the first acquisition under MVT’s #ownourvenues scheme. The Snug in Atherton, Greater Manchester, a 100 capacity venue, became the first grassroots music venue (GMV) purchased by Music Venue Properties (MVP), the independent Charitable Community Benefit Society (CCBS).

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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