Funds raised from Sam Fender‘s recent arena tour have helped support 38 grassroots music venues across the UK.
- READ MORE: UK grassroots venues suffering from “the complete collapse of touring” – here’s how you can help
It comes after the singer-songwriter, as well as Coldplay, Katy Perry and Mumford & Sons, adopted a £1 ticket levy on their tours to help support the survival of grassroots music venues.
That campaign was instigated by the Music Venue Trust in reaction to the news that 2023 had proved to be “disastrous” and the worst year on record with 125 grassroots music venues shutting their doors – a rate of two per week.
According to the Music Venue Trust via a press release, over £100,000 from Fender’s tour has “provided urgent emergency assistance alongside essential improvement grants, forming a full programme of support that protects, secures, and improves the grassroots ecosystem”.
Up to 19 venues have received funding to prevent imminent closures, addressing urgent challenges such as licensing issues, legal disputes, noise complaints, financial crises, and sudden, unpredictable shocks like floods, fires, or bereavement.
A further 19 venues also received over £50,000 in direct improvement grants, enabling upgrades to facilities, technical equipment, and infrastructure that directly benefit artists, staff, and audiences, according to the MVT.
“It’s brilliant to see that the money raised from the arena tour is making a real difference to so many venues,” Fender said.
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“The grassroots circuit has been decimated over the last 10 years or so and the idea that money from shows in big venues supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense. These places are legendary.”
The venues that have received assistance include the likes of Paper Dress Vintage in London, Manchester’s The White Hotel, Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff and Glasgow’s Sub Club.
Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust, said: “This remarkable contribution from Sam Fender, his management, and his team has created a real and lasting impact on the grassroots music ecosystem.
“These venues are the places where artists like Sam take their first steps, where local communities come together, and where live music truly begins. By investing directly into their future, we are strengthening the entire live music sector.”
Calls for the levy, which is similar to the one seen in football’s Premier League and is already in use in several countries across Europe, first surfaced in May 2024 before the government agreed to back it in November that year.
Back in January, it was also reported that 70.6 per cent of independent UK acts had never toured, while 84 per cent of unsigned artists simply can’t afford to, and many earn less than the minimum wage. In May, Wolf Alice’s Joff Oddie warned of music becoming “a middle and upper class sport”.
Speaking about the levy, Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently told NME: “I’m very supportive of this initiative, the £1 levy going back into grassroots [venues], because so much of our music is grassroots.
He acknowledged that smaller, independent establishments are “where a lot of people access their music”, adding: “It’s obviously where a lot of musicians start off, and therefore I’m hugely supportive of it. I’d like to see it expanded even more, but I want to support it in any way we can.”
Elsewhere, Fender recently shared plans to take a break to get his voice “as good as possible” before making another album and releasing a “fuck loads of new tunes next year”.
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