More than half of the UK’s grassroots music venues failed to make a profit in 2025, with thousands of jobs lost and the national touring circuit shrinking to a handful of major cities.
The latest annual report from the Music Venue Trust (MVT) paints a picture of a sector that remains culturally vital but structurally fragile, surviving on wafer‑thin margins and “unsustainable” tax burdens.
Around 54% of UK grassroots music venues made no profit in 2025
Over half of UK grassroots music venues (GMVs) – around 53/54% made no profit at all in 2025, despite collectively contributing more than £550m to the UK economy.
The sector now comprises roughly 801 venues, hosting more than 170,000 events and drawing over 21 million audience visits per year, but operating on an average profit margin of just 2.5%.
More than 6,000 jobs lost in grassroots venues
Employment in grassroots venues fell from just under 31,000 people in 2024 to about 24,000 in 2025, a loss of more than 6,000 jobs – nearly a fifth of the workforce.
Between mid‑2024 and mid‑2025, around 30 grassroots venues permanently closed, while dozens more stopped operating as grassroots spaces even if the buildings remained in use.
Why music venues are struggling
MVT links the collapse in profitability and jobs directly to rising costs, particularly increases in employer National Insurance contributions and business rates, which it describes as an “unsustainable” tax burden.
Even where turnover has grown and ticket prices have nudged up only slightly, elevated operating costs mean many venues sit just one financial shock away from crisis, effectively subsidising live music every night they open.
The report warns that 175 UK towns and cities, home to an estimated 25 million people, no longer receive regular touring shows from professional artists on what used to be the “significant” grassroots circuit.
Touring activity is becoming increasingly concentrated in a small group of major urban centres such as London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield, starving other areas of new music and local economic spin‑offs.
What MVT says needs to change to save the grassroots scene
MVT argues that the current economic model for grassroots live music is “no longer working” and calls for urgent government intervention on tax, alongside structural reforms to how the wider industry supports the venues that develop new talent.
The organisation is rolling out a £2m intervention plan, including schemes like Venue MOT, Off The Grid, Stay The Night and Raise The Standard, aimed at cutting costs, improving sustainability and protecting venues through community‑focused ownership models.