Ticketmaster donates 60,000 to Assist Music Venues Trust

Ticketmaster has donated over £60,000 ($75,000) to the Music Venue Trust (MVT), the UK charity which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues (GMVs).

The donation is part of a practice Ticketmaster’s UK division has been running for two years. It is an option offered to fans to make a donation when purchasing tickets. In doing so, the ticket company says it helped raise £60K by 2024 through its annual MVT sale, matching every pound donated by fans on its website.

“This brings our total sales to £150K in just two years,” Andrew Parsons, managing director at Ticketmaster UK, said in a statement.

“This initiative is a big deal for us and this year we have teamed up with some iconic venues 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 well into the future.”

According to MVT, UK venues are closing at a rate of two a week or stopping performances due to skyrocketing costs.

“The sobering reality is that only 11 of the 34 grassroots music venues that Oasis played on their first tour still exist today,” MVT said in a statement on social media.

Mark Davyd, CEO, Music Venue Trust, said they were very grateful to Ticketmaster and its customers for their support at a time when this type of initiative was much needed.

“Your recognition that Grassroots Music Venues is struggling just to keep the lights on without these types of donations and your efforts to do something about it is most welcome!” Davyd concluded.

The funds will go directly into MVT’s Pipeline Investment Fund, which was established in 2022 with the aim of supporting UK-based grassroots music venues, artists and promoters.

MVT says that several other companies and organizations have run initiatives and made donations to the Pipeline Investment Fund since its launch, which has raised and allocated over £5m to date.

Back in November, the UK government announced it was directing the live music industry to introduce a voluntary levy on all stadium and arena tickets to help support grassroots venues.

Chris Bryant, Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, listed they want to see a voluntary tax on arena and stadium tickets come into effect as soon as possible for concerts in 2025.

“To meet this timeline,” he added, “we want to see tangible progress across the music industry by the first quarter of 2025. We are urging the live music industry, and in particular the major commercial players, who will have the greatest influence on the success of an industry-led charge to focus on making rapid progress.”

Bryant also said they would welcome the leadership shown by artists such as Coldplay, Sam Fender and Katy Perry by donating a portion of their upcoming tour proceeds to support the grassroots sector.

O2, Fred Perry, Strings & Things Ltd., Fightback Lager, Manchester Academy, Ether Tickets, Gigtix and TicketPort are listed among the companies that support MVT’s work with fixed donations.