Joe GallopThe Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DMCS) has pledged an additional £5 million over two years to support around 400 grassroots music venue projects.
The pledge, which will expand on Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Music Venues Fund, is part of the Government’s plan to grow the economy and boost UK creative industries by £50 billion. It plans to support a million more jobs by 2030, with £77m of new funding for the sector announced.
The move was welcomed by the Music Venue Trust (MVT). Its CEO Mark Davyd said, “This additional £5m is a fantastic response from the Government, recognising that we have a crisis at grassroots level which threatens the talent pipeline and the future prosperity of the entire live music industry. It’s now time for that industry to step up, take responsibility, and match this government action with its own positive response. At the top level, we are enjoying the greatest ever summer of live music in the UK. We need to ensure that Grassroots Music Venues share in that financial success, and that can be achieved simply and effectively through a contribution from every ticket sold at every arena and stadium event.”
Government has also pledged funding for the Music Exports Growth Scheme, which provides grants to support touring and help emerging musicians break into new global markets. It will now be expanded to £3.2m over the next two years.
Jon Collins, CEO of LIVE said, “The UK’s live music sector is the envy of our friends across the globe. However, in the face of increased energy costs, supply chain challenges, and difficulties faced by touring artists, performers and their crew, the true potential of the sector is currently being limited. The extra funding announced today to support music exports and grassroots music venues is welcome and will go some way towards helping the live music sector to bounce back to full strength.”
Elsewhere, four new research and development facilities will be set up to drive the next generation of screen technology and on-set virtual production, with £63m of new industry investment announced today, 13 June, on top of the government’s £75.6m investment.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)’s Convergent Screen Technologies and performance in Realtime (CoSTAR) programme is expected to create more than 820 new jobs across the UK. It will see the opening of one national CoSTAR lab and three regional R&D labs – including one located at Yorkshire’s Production Park.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said, “Our Creative Industry isn’t just about the glitz and glam of the red carpet in Leicester Square. It brings in £108 billion a year to help fund our public services, supports over 2 million jobs, and is world-renowned. That’s why we’re backing it as an industry to drive our economic growth, keeping the UK at the top of the world’s cultural charts with a multi-million-pound boost.”