Generator is backing the Music Venue Trust Grassroots Ticket Levy

Before the sold-out stadiums, world tours, and chart-topping albums, Ed Sheeran, Sam Fender, and Arctic Monkeys were playing to small crowds in grassroots music venues. These intimate, local spaces are where artists first learn their craft, build their audience, and find their sound. Today, those same venues are disappearing at an alarming rate - not because of a lack of talent, but because of a lack of support.

In response, The Music Venue Trust has introduced the Grassroots Ticket Levy. This voluntary scheme invites artists, promoters, and venues to contribute £1 from every ticket sold to arena and stadium shows (with a capacity over 5,000). The funds go directly to The LIVE Trust, a new funding initiative dedicated to supporting the UK’s grassroots music scene. Since its introduction last year, the levy has already raised £500,000 to support struggling venues.

Public support for the levy is overwhelming. A survey by Music Fans’ Voice, which polled over 8,000 music fans, found that 93% back the initiative, while 99% agree that live music is a vital part of UK culture. Nearly a third of respondents said they attend grassroots venues at least once a month. These venues shouldn't be overlooked - they're essential cultural spaces that are deeply valued by audiences.

At Generator’s brand launch at Abbey Road Studios, CEO Mick Ross highlighted the scale of the crisis. He described grassroots venues as “the R&D departments of the music industry” - the places where future stars are born and develop. According to the Music Venue Trust, 43.8% of grassroots venues reported a financial loss in 2024. Even those that remain open are barely surviving, with average profit margins of just 0.48% - around £3,114 per venue. “These venues are run on passion, not profit,” he said. "But passion alone isn’t enough to pay the bills and keep the doors open."

In Newcastle, Ross Lewis, production manager and co-booker at The Cluny and Cluny 2, sees the same story playing out. The Cluny, a 300-capacity venue that opened in 1999, quickly became a staple of the national touring circuit. In 2009, Cluny 2 followed, originally focused on acoustic and grassroots acts but quickly growing into a versatile, all-genre space. Between the two, they now host over 400 gigs each year. Artists such as Ed Sheeran, Sam Fender, Arctic Monkeys, Mumford & Sons, and The Last Dinner Party all played these stages early in their careers before breaking into the mainstream.

Post-COVID, ticket sales at The Cluny have increased but due to inflation and the cost of living crisis, profits have not followed. “We’re doing more to generate less,” Lewis says. "The past 18 months have seen us increase ticket sales by 23% but due to the cost of living crisis and inflation, profits have not risen in tandem. We are doing more to generate less, and something has to change otherwise grassroots music venues will cease to be a functioning business model." He believes the £1 ticket levy is a chance to redistribute some of the wealth from the top of the industry back into the grassroots level that helped build it.

Tracing Sam Fender’s rise offers a perfect example. He went from support slots at grassroots venues to headlining his own shows, before catapulting to arena and stadium fame. But that journey would not have been possible without places like The Cluny. “We aren’t just the R&D for the industry,” Lewis says, “we are a training ground for their talent.” He emphasises that how the funds are used is just as important as raising them. "We can’t make a better tomorrow with the failed methodology of today. We need bold ideas and actions that will help future proof grassroots music venues through radical schemes to reward success rather than prop up failure. We need to stop talking and start doing." Lewis calls for experimentation, innovation, and genuine collaboration between the wider industry and those running grassroots venues. "We aren’t places of pity begging to receive paltry bread crumbs from the top table, we are inspiring places that can help the industry bake a better loaf."

The £1 levy isn’t a radical idea. In fact, countries like France, Germany, and the Netherlands already have similar systems in place - and they work. If adopted across the UK, the Music Venue Trust estimates the levy could raise over £20 million annually, without relying on public funding.

Without grassroots venues, there’s no pipeline for future talent. Certainly, no next generation of headliners. The £1 ticket levy is a simple, fair, and scalable way to protect the foundation of the UK music industry - not through charity, but through reinvestment. It's not just necessary. It's overdue.

Read more about the work of Music Venue Trust
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