Over 125 UK Music Venue Closures and Thousands of Industry Jobs Lost in 2023

The closing of these UK Grassroots venues has led to around 4,000 industry jobs lost in the past year.

According ‌to the Music Venue Trust (MVT), 2023 has been the worst year for UK music venue closures. Grassroots music venues are fundamental to musicians of all genres as they are famously known as places where artists begin to develop and craft their skills.

The MVT stats show that due to these closings, there has been 4,000 jobs lost and 14,500 events no longer possible due to not having a venue to call home. In addition, 193,230 gigs for musicians are now lost as a result of the closings over the past 12 months.

When breaking down the numbers, it adds to at least one grassroots music venue closing every week. The reason why most of the venues seem to be foreclosing is because most of these venues have a private landlord. Since rent across the UK has been rising, venues’ profit margins have been tightening, leaving many of them in an untenable position.

The MVT has described itself as the ‘National Trust’ for grassroots music venues. The MVT acts as a UK-registered charity that acts to protect, secure, and improve UK grassroots music venues. They accomplish this by buying the existing venues from private landlords to then act as benevolent landlords to the existing owners.

By preventing venues from closing, the MVT allows up-and-coming artists to continue to test out new approaches and develop their audiences – something these venues are historically known for. Most successful musicians are known to have played at a grassroots music venue at some point in their lives. Some notable artists are Fatboy Slim, The Killers, and Ed Sheeran.

In October, Fatboy Slim returned to Brighton and performed a secret gig at The Prince Albert, a venue that was at risk of closing. To safeguard the property from developers, Fatboy Slim came to play at the venue to save the establishment from closure. Although The Prince Albert is still standing, Liverpool’s Melodic Distraction and Leeds’ Sheaf St are among the many grassroots venues that have closed in the UK in 2023. For more information on how to help save essential grassroots music venues, visit www.musicvenuetrust.com.

Kathryn Allyn

My favorite thing in the whole world is music and after hearing “One” by Swedish House Mafia for the first time in 2014, I was hooked on EDM. Dance music has been a large part of who I am and will always be searching for new ways to incorporate it in my life. The pure bliss that I feel from live shows is a feeling I never want to stop chasing (iykyk). Some of my favorite artists are Flume, Rüfüs Du Sol, Mindchatter, Disclosure, Dom Dolla and Fred Again.. 🙂

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