Grassroots music gets £8m funding boost

The government has pledged a total of more than £8m for initiatives supporting upcoming musicians and grassroots music venues as part of the Creative Industries Sector Vision published today.

Among the measures is increased support to Arts Council England’s (ACE) Supporting Grassroots Music Venues, which comes after ACE announced a two-year extension to the fund in April, which included a £1.5m investment through to September this year.

The sector vision pledges an additional £5m over two years, which is says will support around 400 grassroots music venues projects.

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CEO and Founder of Music Venue Trust, Mark Davyd, said the additional funding is a “fantastic response from government, recognising that we have a crisis at grassroots level which threatens the talent pipeline and the future prosperity of the entire live music industry”.

“It’s now time for that industry to step up, take responsibility, and match this government action with its own positive response,” Davyd said.

The sector vision also says the government will deliver MVT’s £3.5m Own Our Venues pilot, which got the go ahead earlier this year after a successful crowdfunding campaign.

The pilot will see the purchase of freeholds of a number of music venues, designed to safeguard their future at a time where on average, one grassroots music venue is closing each week.

Arts Professional has contacted MVT for further detail on the delivery.

Music export funding

The sector vision also pledges to expand funding for the Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) by a further £3.2m over the next two years.

The scheme, which is administered by the BPI and jointly funded by government and industry partners, offers grants to small and medium sized independent music companies to support British artists careers in international markets.

Since the scheme’s launch in 2014, it has supported over 300 UK artists and generated a return on investment of more than £13 for every £1 spend.

The additional funding, which answers long-term calls made by the BPI for support to be extended, is jointly provided by the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

BPI Interim Chief Executive Sophie Jones said the additional investment will mean the scheme is “able to help even more deserving artists achieve global success”.

“We are delighted that the government has recognised the excellent return on investment that MEGS presents and has moved to support independent artists and music in this way.”

UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin said the government’s investment in music is “hugely welcome”.

“[It] will deliver a significant boost to the Music Export Growth Scheme and to grassroots music venues across the country.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the Government to make the UK the best place to create, innovate, produce and consume music.”