A recently announced “bold new strategy” to impose a 1-3% levy on all music tickets sold in Bristol has received criticism.
The strategy led by the city council and Bristol Nights aims to provide more support to the music sector, particularly grassroots music venues in Bristol.
We are on a mission to create a stable future for the night time creative sector 🌜🎶
— Bristol Nights (@BristolNightsHQ) December 12, 2023
We propose establishing a Grassroots Music Fund – built by Bristol, for Bristol.
Read the report from our Grassroots Music Roundtable: https://t.co/zLKssARG9r https://t.co/UJPUqRpmWs
It proposes a ticket levy system at the point of sale to be collected into a central funding pot and distributed via a grant that would potentially offer struggling venues across the city an invaluable financial lifeline.
Bristol Nights’ Bristol Grassroots Music Fund say, there is relatively low support and funding for grassroots music even though the music scene is thriving and contributing significantly to Bristol’s economy.
Carly Heath, Bristol’s Night Time Economy Advisor said “the future of music in Bristol deserves a collective conversation on sustainable solutions to funding, with the ambition for Bristol to continue to be a world leader in innovative and inclusive music scenes for generations to come.”
Mig Schillace, owner of The Louisiana in Bristol, believes there are better ways to support music scenes in Bristol as “tickets are already overpriced.”
He agreed that while it was worth considering, Bristol should take on a similar route to that of mainland Europe – where established or big venues get funding from their local council to support them.
Mr Schillace is of the opinion that “a lot of money has been misspent by the council.”
“I know Bristol city council… has put a lot of money into the [The] Beacon, which is a great venue, but [if] around a ÂŁ1m could have been put aside, that would then fund 10 venues for two and a half years… that’s something the council really needs to come and look at,” he said.
Trinity, a Bristol grassroots music venue has already introduced a ÂŁ1 Restoration Levy on every event ticket it sells. It said this was due to unprecedented challenges like the cost-of-living crisis, rising overheads and ongoing upkeep as a result of being a Grade II* listed converted former-church.
The director of culture at Trinity Community Arts, Jamell Ackford is happy with the proposed strategy. He says “it is really exciting that grassroots venues in the city are collectively working together to look at ways to support and sustain the industry and we look forward to the outcome of the feasibly study to the proposed Bristol Nights’ strategy next year.”
In Sept 2023, Music Venue Trust said the UK was set to lose 10% of its independent venues by the end of the year due to poor funding and tax rises.
Mr Schillace says “the council spends money without any forward-thinking or without good grounds to spend a lot of money that they do not need to…, specially things like city planning.”
In addition to this, he feels that with the closure of Moles in Bath, “GMV’s [Grassroots Music Venues] are more venerable than ever before.”
