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New Post: AIF makes desperate call for government to “step up, and step up now” to get festivals through “devastating period”, as MVT launches new Liveline fund - In 2024, 72 music festivals in the UK were cancelled, double the number from 2023, prompting the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) to urge government intervention. The grassroots live music sector faces severe economic challenges, exacerbated by the government's rejection of a proposed VAT cut on tickets. While the Culture Media & Sport Select Committee suggested a ticket levy to support grassroots venues, the live sector missed a deadline to implement it voluntarily. Meanwhile, the Music Venue Trust launched the Liveline Fund to aid struggling venues and artists, supported by donations from artists like Coldplay and Sam Fender. Read the full article here https://lnkd.in/gB6ep-jN #Venturecapital #VC #investment #LP #Limited Partner

A bittersweet one for me.. Last weekend, I went to the final closing party of my good friend’s grassroots music venue. After 26 incredible years of supporting live music and encouraging community, they’ve had to ring their final ‘last orders’ bell, and close their doors for good. I’ve grown up around this place, and it really does hurt to see it go. A wonderful send off, but quite heart breaking. It’s easy to forget the fantastic, hardworking people behind the scenes, putting their whole heart into these places. Venues like this are the backbone of music culture, giving emerging artists their first stage. Some of today’s biggest acts - Arctic Monkeys, Ed Sheeran, and Florence + the Machine, Coldplay, The Libertines, all started out in grassroots venues. The pandemic hit the venues hard, and the rising costs, and lack of funding and support has made survival nearly impossible for many, with 2 grassroots venues closing their doors each week (!) last year. It’s great to see organisations like the #MusicVenueTrust (MVT) doing vital work to support grassroots music venues, but the situation remains. They rely on grants, donations and support from us. How can we be helping? 🎶 Show up for live performances and bring friends. 🎶 Donate to venues or organisations like MVT. 🎶 Spread awareness about the challenges they face. 🎶 Volunteer time or skills to help. 🎶 Buy merchandise or join venue fundraisers. If you love live music, please please please support them - or your local grassroots venue - however you can.

Acts like these ensure space and activity for future generations in the music industry! The Music Venue Trust's initiative should be a role model for other corporations and businesses in protecting the UK nightlife and music industry. In the past four years, an average of ten nightclubs have closed per month in the UK (Skiddle, 2024), due to worsening economic conditions (increased VAT) and a battle in compliance with relevant policies and taxation. I believe Music and live entertainment improves the well-being for many, enriching local culture and catalysing social cohesion.

Rock for Good is on fire 🔥! Full house on Wed and 2000$ to fund impact projects. I'm so grateful to all the bands who play for free and set the stage on fire, and of course to all the people who came to have fun and support the event and the cause. With Rock for Good, we want to show anyone that you can do the things you move, and add a sustainability component. We hear too often that sustainability is about "corporates doing their part", "policy makers imposing regulations" or "as a citizen there's only so much I can do". We think everyone can do something, and Penny and I created Rock for Good to illustrate this. We like live music, we love to play music, we absolutely next-level love doing it as a couple, and we care about the planet. So why not organizing a music festival where we can play, meet other kickass bands, see them play live, and gather funds to support carefully vetted impact projects focused on Southeast Asia? it's only the second concert of the festival, but the answer is clear: it's very doa;and everyone loves it 🤷🏻♂️. As always, it's about doing things you like with people you like, so that (and it's the part everyone forgets) you find the energy to do all the necessary things you *don't* want to do. PS: it's not a Glorious concert, but since I was just coming right from an AI in healthcare, I thought I'd put a touch of pink. 👉 So here's your call to action: join the next concerts, it's free fun for the planet. Link in the comments!

When you focus only on digital marketing, you miss the opportunity to interact with your customers and truly understand their needs. #ExperientialMarketing creates a unique brand experience that makes your products more memorable.

Returning as one of our community partners for Black Friday 2024, Music Venue Trust (UK charity no. 1159846) acts to protect, secure and improve grassroots music venues up and down the UK. With the UK government recently enacting official policy that every ticket sold at an arena or stadium should contain a financial contribution that supports grassroots music venues, artists and promoters, there's never been a better time to support the trust's vital work. - Between Thursday 28th November (00:01 GMT) and Sunday 1st December (23:59 GMT), we will be giving 10% of net sales on fredperry.com and we will be giving 10% of net sales on fredperry.com and in our UK, Netherlands, France, Germany and the USA ‘Fred Perry’ shops, to be split equally between four community organisations: The Music Venue Trust (UK charity no. 1159846), Blueprint for All (UK charity no. 1102267), Amy Winehouse Foundation (charity no. 1143740) and Museum of Youth Culture C.I.C. (UK Community Interest Company no. 09680751). In 2023, thanks to you, the total amount over the long weekend came to £74,791, giving our community organisations over £18,000 each. These organisations reflect our values of independence and diversity, and we are proud to have an ongoing relationship with each of them. #FREDPERRY

👏 👏 ASM Global 👏 👏 ASM Global has confirmed that, in addition to the support it already provides to grassroots venues, it will now be expanding its partnership with the Music Venue Trust so that all of its venues will be fundraising for the cause. 1️⃣2️⃣5️⃣ venues closed last year and it is therefore essential that more large scale venue operators, and the music industry in general, follow their (and that of the many artists who have already added a levy to the ticket prices for their tours) lead and ramp up their efforts to prevent this number from increasing. #grassrootsmusic #venues

More and more European festivals sign up to help support Music Saves Ukraine, but not from the UK. The festival summer in Europe is coming to an end. In the third year of the full-scale invasion, support for Ukraine in the European music industry remains high, and more and more European festivals are joining in to help by directing their social action and proceeds to the initiative of the Ukrainian UAME - Ukrainian Association of Music Events - Music Saves Ukraine. Sadly this support has yet to be evidenced from UK festivals. In 2025 let's get the UK industry involved. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the team has worked with 40 festivals and numerous large-scale music events. During this time, the initiative has raised over €555,000 for humanitarian needs in Ukraine. How does it work? How are Ukrainian artists getting to the international stages? And how much was raised for Ukraine? Find out how you can get involved.https://bit.ly/4dw9OKV #ukraine #charity #fundraising #festivals #musicbusiness #diymagazine

A group of Music Industry executives have teamed up with The official Kamala Harris - Tim Walz campaign team AND the Democratic National Convention teams to organize an online Musicians For Kamala fundraiser that builds on the success of previous events like “Win with Black Women”, “White Dudes for Harris", and “Comics for Kamala”. The goal is to drive voter registration and to raise funds to support the campaign of Kamala Harris for President and Tim Walz for Vice President!. When: Tuesday, September 17th at 5pm PT / 8pm ET Where: Zoom What’s Needed: Your voice, your art, and your passion. Whether you’d prefer to perform live, share a pre-recorded video, or speak from the heart, we’d be honored to have you join this online event. (No travel needed!) Why: This isn’t just another event—it’s a chance to make history. As musicians, we know the power of our platform to inspire change. Together, we can use our music to drive voter registration and rally support for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as they campaign for President and Vice President. Who: 10+ A level artists confirmed so far, more announcements coming soon along with an official website launch! The backend fundraising will be the official DNC Donate platform such as used in the Deadheads for Kamala: https://lnkd.in/gQTXgJ-J We’re all volunteering our time and talents to make this moment impactful. Whether you perform for a couple of minutes or share a few words, your involvement could be what inspires someone to get registered and make their voice heard. If you can’t participate, no worries at all. But if this resonates with you, we’d love to have you be part of something bigger than just a performance—it’s about using our music to shape the future. Let us know if you’re interested, and we’ll take it from there.

On Friday May 3rd, less than 15 hours before the start of Lovers and Friends Festival 2024, organizers dramatically announced the cancellation of the one-day music festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. The decision was taken because of “the National Weather Service issuing a High Wind Warning”. The star-studded festival was due to be headlined by acts such as Janet Jackson, Usher and The Backstreet Boys and featured over 60 other artists, now abruptly cancelled on account of dangerous weather conditions. What does the cancellation of an event of this size mean for the organizers of the event? Their costs, profits and even reputation? Here we see an example the need for Contigency, Cancellation and Non-Appearance cover. An Events Liability policy would not respond to cancellation of the event. Make sure you know the difference between covers and that your client benefits from both.