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Why do small venues still matter?

Music Venue Trust's 2025 report in the UK shows in numbers how important small music venues are and how much they are struggling.

WyvOne Editör · 06.11.2026

Leicester, Hull, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Stoke. According to Music Venue Trust (MVT), these cities are among the 175 places in the United Kingdom that are no longer regular stops on professional artists' tours. This is the finding the organisation's annual report, published in January 2026, put in its headline. The data show that small venues are not coming back but trying to stay alive.

What do the numbers say?

We are talking about the small venues MVT calls 'grassroots' music venues. According to news coverage of the report, there are 801 venues of this kind in the UK. Last year 30 of them closed permanently. In 2025, 53 percent of venues did not make a profit; the average profit margin is 2.5 percent.

The same report says the sector lost about 6,000 jobs, which meant a 19 percent contraction in the workforce. MVT blames this loss on changes to national insurance and business rates. On touring, the figure reported by Music Week is this: in 175 cities and towns where about 25 million people live, no regular touring shows by professional artists remain. The report also notes that 475 of the 801 venues (59 percent) have no events from major promoters.

These venues contribute to the economy too: MVT cites a contribution of more than 500 million pounds a year. So the problem is not the loss of an unimportant sector.

The Music Week report also explains what the touring gap means. According to MVT, local promoters in these areas often lack the scale or resources to fill the gap; the cost is described as lower bar sales, lower local employment and fewer chances for new artists to find a stage. The report also notes that in 221 of the 253 cities and towns served by the 801 venues, major national touring artists do not visit. 175 and 221 measure different things; the report does not reconcile the two, and neither do we.

Why are they struggling?

MVT's diagnosis is direct: today's economic models are not enough to keep live music going in small venues. With a profit margin of 2.5 percent, an unexpected expense can push a venue into crisis; the report describes most venues as 'between a financial shock and a crisis'. The organisation wants tax changes; it also lists post-Brexit touring barriers and touring costs as problems.

There is a positive note in the coverage too. According to Rolling Stone UK, the rate of decline in the number of venues fell to 1.2 percent, the lowest since 2018. But the same piece also reports that the job loss was the sharpest fall since MVT began collecting data. So closures may have slowed, but the margin venues have is still thin.

What is MVT doing, and what does it want?

MVT announced an emergency relief fund that can give grants of up to 10,000 pounds to venues at risk of closing, and an expanded venue support team. In addition, 2 million pounds is being set aside for four programmes: a 'venue check' that reviews venues' costs, reducing energy bills with solar panels and batteries, accommodation and backstage support for artists, and grants for sound and lighting equipment. A national touring programme run jointly with the sector (Liveline) has also been announced.

It has three demands of the government: regulation of taxes applied before a venue makes a profit, legislation of the 'Agent of Change' principle, which puts responsibility on the newcomer in noise complaints from neighbouring homes, and a permanent live music commission. MVT was also waiting until June 2026 for the sector to set up a voluntary 'grassroots levy'; otherwise it wanted the government to legislate. As of 6 November 2026, we could not find a published outcome.

All of this data is from the UK. We could not find a comparable and reliable report on small venues in Türkiye, so we say nothing about them.