British Venues Attracted Over 22 Million Visitors in 2022

British venues attracted greater than 22 million guests in 2022 — down 16.7% from 2019 as revenue margins proceed to shrink amid the price of residing disaster.

Music Venue Belief (MVT), representing practically 1,000 UK grassroots music venues, has launched its 2022 annual report, highlighting the significance of its members’ contributions to the UK financial system and the sobering actuality of the challenges dealing with many within the sector. 

A survey of 960 members of the Music Venue Alliance, which employs over 30,000 folks inside the sector, revealed that just about 22 million guests attended performances at these venues in 2022. Nevertheless, it is a decline of 16.7% from 2019, as these venues have been compelled to make vital cutbacks to proceed working in the course of the pandemic.

This lower stems from the weekly occasions staged at particular person venues falling from 4.2 in 2019 to three.5 in 2022, with a mere 1.97 of these recognized as ticketed dwell music exhibits. Moreover, solely about 40% of the venue’s capability was crammed on common — down 11% from 2019, when the common capability was 51%.

The whole revenue from these occasions was over £500 million ($617 million). Nonetheless, venues reported a median revenue margin of simply 0.2%, ensuing within the subsidizing of dwell music performances by round £79 million final yr.

“Clearly, we’re happy to focus on the truth that grassroots music venues contribute over half a billion kilos to the UK financial system and to emphasise their monumental impression on the cultural lifetime of our nation,” says Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Belief. “However additionally it is essential to reiterate the precarious monetary place that a lot of the sector nonetheless discover themselves in — the present economics now not stack up.”

Consequently, MVT calls on the native authorities and the broader music business to assist the sector, which it describes as “now previous the tipping level.” A part of this name to motion highlights the VAT (value-added tax) utilized to venue ticket gross sales as an ongoing barrier to profitability, which is “crushing the financial viability of this sector.”

“We want pressing motion from the federal government on all these components in addition to a full assessment of VAT on ticket gross sales,” Davyd provides. “In brief, we’d like a coherent long-term financial plan that acknowledges the significance of what our members do and provides them an opportunity to maintain nurturing up-and-coming artists and contributing to their native communities.”

Moreover, MVT has referred to as for an intensive assessment of what it refers to as “extreme and anti-competitive” enterprise charges ensuing from a “fully damaged” evaluation system as basic within the ongoing strain that venues face.