Over a third of UK grassroots music venues are loss-making, charity finds

Alarm in sector as cost of living crisis and rent rises mean that 125 independent venues either closed or stopped hosting live music in 2023

Over a third of UK grassroots music venues are loss-making, according to the annual report of the sector charity Music Venues Trust (MVT).

Thirty-eight per cent of the 835 venues, most of them small and entirely independent, made a loss, with cost of rent a particular pressure point: venues that rent their premises saw those costs increase by an average of 37.5% compared with 2022.