More than half of grassroots music venues (GMVs) did not make any profit in 2025 according to figures released today (21) by the Music Venue Trust (MVT).

The industry body’s annual report for 2025 highlighted that, despite contributing more than half a billion pounds to the UK economy, 30 grassroots music venues have permanently closed over the past year with 6,000 (19.8%) roles cut – the sharpest drop since the trust began collecting annual data.

Employer National Insurance increases were cited as the principle driver of job losses, while the recent increase in business rates has also proven devastating.

The Shed in Leicester was one of the independent venues that closed its doors for the final time in 2025. It had hosted shows by acts including Kasabian, Arctic Monkeys and Ellie Goulding during its 31-year history but closed for good on December 31, 2025, with owners saying it wasn’t viable to keep it open anymore.

The report also revealed that the national touring circuit has shrunk with 175 UK towns and cities no longer receiving regular touring shows by professional artists. MVT said urgent action is needed as the lack of touring opportunites pose a fundamental threat to the live music talent pipeline.

“We have reached the absolute limit of what goodwill can possibly absorb,” Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd told those gathered at the V&A to hear the results of the report.

“For years, grassroots music venues have quietly carried problems that should never have been theirs to solve. Rising costs. Shifting policy. Regulatory confusion. Political drift. Industry indifference. And because they didn’t collapse overnight, everyone else has been able to pretend that the system more or less works.

Davyd argued that the 6,000 job losses weren’t the result of venues failing, but “because people keep have been making poor decisions at a political, policy and structural level, with the ridiculous expectation that the smallest, most fragile part of the live music ecosystem would be able to quietly absorb the consequences.”

He then revealed that 2026 was a year for MVT to “change gear” and a time for “the government and the industry seize the opportunity and change gear with us”. The Music Venue Trust will be expanding its frontline Venue Support Team and Emergency Hardship Relief Fund to prevent avoidable closures this year, as well as investing £2million immediately to permanently reduce costs and improve sustainability.

This will involve investing in projects including Venue MOT, Off The Grid, Stay The Night and Raise The Standard, to “focus on infrastructure resilience, operational improvement, energy efficiency, and enhanced artist and audience experience” and “to reduce operating costs while strengthening venues’ long-term viability”.

Last year saw the Royal Albert Hall in London recently became the first arena to commit to a LIVE ticket levy to help support grassroots venues, which sees £1 from every ticket sold invested back into the UK’s live music scene and helps smaller venues keep their doors open and for grassroots artists to tour. Huge names who have been supportive of the levy include Coldplay, Sam Fender and Katy Perry – who have all vowed to donate a portion of their tour revenues to support the grassroots sector.

Now, the Music Venue Trust have argued once again that if voluntary industry contribution mechanism to the levy cannot be proven to work by June 2026, then the government must legislate and make the Grassroots Levy law – something Davyd would be “justified”. He praised companies SJM, Kilimanjaro and AEG for their contributions to the levy, but hit out at Live Nation.

“These companies are delivering,” he said. “Live Nation, you know, and the whole industry knows, you are not. If the voluntary levy fails, it will not be the fault of the companies who have already embraced it, or of Music Venue Trust, or of the government, or of any will to do it on behalf of individuals, artists, managers, agents, audiences or anyone else. It will be a direct consequence of the overwhelmingly dominant force in the arena and stadium market deciding not to deliver a voluntary levy. That’s your choice Live Nation and everyone in the industry hopes you make the right one.”

Read Music Venue Trust’s full 2025 annual report here.