Grassroots music venues across England are the first recipients of the government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund, the Culture Secretary has announced today. 

The £3.36 million Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund is being shared among 135 venues across England who applied for support to survive the imminent risk of collapse caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The full list of venues is below.

In response to the demand for help from some of the hardest hit in the sector, an additional £1.1 million was also brought forward, increasing the fund from £2.25 million to £3.36 million to help as many venues as quickly as possible.  

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “This Government is here for culture and these grants today show we are determined to help our exceptional music industry weather the Covid storm and come back stronger.

“Grassroots music venues are where the magic starts and these emergency grants from our £1.57 billion fund will ensure these music venues survive to create the Adeles and Ed Sheerans of the future.

“I encourage music fans to help too by supporting music and cultural events as they start to get going again. We need a collective effort to help the things we love through Covid.” 

The accelerated funding has been delivered by Arts Council England in under a month to save grassroots venues previously facing insolvency. The emergency grants of up to £80,000 will cover on-going running costs incurred during closure, including rent and utilities, so that some of the country’s most vulnerable venues can survive. 

Darren Henley, CEO, Arts Council England, said: “This much-welcomed emergency investment from the government into grassroots music venues will have a profoundly positive impact on England’s music ecology, and today’s news will mean a great deal to the many artists, audiences and communities they serve across the country. I’m pleased that the Arts Council has been able to use its expertise to administer this fund, ensuring that we are supporting music venues in these challenging times.”

Recipients of the fund include The Troubadour in London, where Adele and Ed Sheeran performed in the early days of their career, as well as The Jacaranda in Liverpool where The Beatles played one of their first gigs. 

Grassroots music venues are where the magic starts and these emergency grants from our £1.57 billion fund will ensure these music venues survive to create the Adeles and Ed Sheerans of the future

Oliver Dowden

The fund will also support The Sunflower Lounge, one of the oldest music venues in Birmingham, and Night People in Manchester. Other recipients include The Brickyard in Carlisle, which has hosted a range of acts including Foals, Blossoms and Biffy Clyro since it opened in 2002, and The Louisiana in Bristol, where Florence + The Machine were among the acts that performed to small audiences there at the start of their careers.  

Mark Davyd, CEO, Music Venue Trust, said: "We warmly welcome this first distribution from the Culture Recovery Fund which will ensure that the short term future of these venues is secured while we continue to work on how we can ensure their long term sustainability. Both DCMS and Arts Council England have worked very quickly to fully understand the imminent risk of permanent closure faced by a significant number of grassroots music venues across the country, and the funding they've brought forward creates a real breathing space for under pressure venues."  

Marcus Davey, CEO and artistic director of the Roundhouse, said: "The Culture Recovery Fund is a welcome lifeline to many cultural organisations who continue to be negatively impacted by Covid-19. We hope that all parts of the huge cultural ecosystem are encouraged to apply for this fund, so that everyone including venues and organisations are supported by this much needed money. Arts and culture are such a huge part of our communities and our lives, but everyone in our sector has been hit hard by this pandemic. We hope this money will go some way to helping organisations such as the Roundhouse not only survive, but plan for our future, and come out the other side thriving.”

Jeremy Pritchard, of Everything Everything, said: “I owe my life’s work and the best times I have ever experienced to the UK’s live music scene. When we first formed Everything Everything, it was the early days of playing in grassroots venues that gave us the experience we needed, taught us how to play together, and gave us the basis of a career. The UK’s live music industry is something to be proud of, not just fiscally but for the vital social role it plays, and it needs continued support.” 

Frank Turner, who appeared on Music Week’s cover to back the campaign for grassroots venues, said: "I'm very pleased to see that the government's headline announcement of the Culture Recovery Fund is now blossoming into practical assistance for grassroots music venues in dire need. These spaces are an irreplaceable part of the live music infrastructure in this country and play a vital role in building the careers of internationally successful artists and in our culture more generally. There is, as ever, more to be done, but this is a positive step for sure." 

Tom Walker said: "This is great news for the music sector and fans alike. Grassroots venues play such an important role in kickstarting many careers, including my own, so it is vital that they are supported. The welcome investment from the government will help safeguard venues across the country so that the next generation of homegrown talent can shine through."

DJ Gilles Peterson, who runs Brownswood Recordings, said: “This is vital funding for the cultural sector that is being hit the hardest by Covid. So many people in the music world are reliant on the live music sector, and without this government help, irrevocable long-term harm threatened the world-leading UK music industry and those who rely on it for a living.”

Andrew Roachford, who has postponed his tour to promote a new album released by BMG next month, said: “It is good to see that the emergency funding has reached the grassroots music venues that were most at risk, and that those venues are now able to survive until the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund is processed. Without grassroots music venues there will be no sustainable live music industry. Hopefully enough of that Culture Recovery Fund will be made available to the grassroots music venues to ensure that this absolutely vital sector of the arts will survive and thrive.”  

Indoor performances can now restart with socially distanced audiences, although many promoters and venues have said it remains unviable because of the economics of artist fees and ticket prices.  

Music venues are also eligible to apply for a share of £500 million in grants being delivered to cultural organisations by Arts Council England, which is accepting applications until September 4. 

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List of venues to receive share of emergency funding

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