Christopher BarrettFurther to Music Venue Trust’s call for arenas to subsidise and support grassroots venues and talent, Enter Shikari, whose latest album is at number one in the UK album charts this week, said they will give £1 from every ticket sold for their 2024 UK arena tour to MVT’s Pipeline Investment Fund.
MVT has argued that it should be mandatory for all new arenas being built in the UK to make a statutory contribution from ticket sales towards supporting the grassroots live music sector and has recently stepped up calls for arena operators and the wider live music industry to support this initiative.
MVT said no more arenas should open to host live music events in the UK until a reliable and sustainable future talent pipeline that warrants them being opened is guaranteed. The Trust has also suggested that planning permission should only be granted to new arenas based on a financial commitment to nurture and develop new artists to fill the stages of the proposed development.
Enter Shikari lead singer and producer Rou Reynolds, who is also an MVT patron said, “Grassroots music venues in the UK are under existential threat. Every time we lose another one we lose a vital part of our culture. Bigger venues that benefit from the productive pipeline that grassroots venues provide need to support these smaller venues, as do the artists that have come up through them. Enter Shikari stands with Music Venue Trust in their efforts to bring more solidity and community to our brilliant UK live music scene”.
MVT CEO Mark Davyd (pictured) said, “The way to make sure the UK continues to be a major force for music around the world is to ensure that every time anyone invests in a ticket to a major event, a small part of the money they are spending is making its way back to the grassroots music venues where every artist begins their career.”