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Ticketmaster has made a £60,000 (€73,000/$76,000) donation to Music Venue Trust, the UK charity that represents hundreds of grassroots music venues across the country.
The contribution comes from Ticketmaster’s optional fan donation, which allows concert attendees to support grassroots venues with each ticket purchase. Ticketmaster matches each pound that is donated, and has helped to raise more than £150,000 to support grassroots music.
The funds raised go into MVT’s Pipeline Investment Fund, which supports UK-based grassroots music venues, artists and promoters. It was established in 2022 with support from members of the Music Venues Alliance and was initially funded by donations from ticket sales of MVT’s ‘Revive Live’ programme of gigs – a partnership with The National Lottery.
“We have long been supporters of MVT’s work and are proud to have helped raise £60,000 in 2024 through our annual MVT upsell where we match every pound donated by fans on our site. This brings our upsell total to £150,000 in just two years,” commented Ticketmaster UK’s managing director, Andrew Parsons.
“This initiative is a big deal to us, and this year we’ve teamed up with some iconic spaces including Epic Studios, Hackney Church, Alfies, The Piano Bar, Soul Mama, and Y Plas nightclub, and we look forward to supporting them and other grassroots music venues long into the future.”
Recently, the Music Venue Trust teamed up with Save Our Scene UK to launch the Liveline Fund, which will support the independent music scene.
MVT has long called for a levy on arena and stadium concert tickets to help support the smaller venues where many now-international artists cut their teeth.
The UK Government backed this idea and instructed the live music industry to initiate a voluntary levy to support grassroots venues after a number closed over the last year.
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