The Music Venue Trust is a British

charitable organisation A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

that was founded in January 2014 to help protect, secure and improve

music venues A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The MVT also operates the Music Venues Alliance, a network of venues, and offers services that help venues that are members of the MVA.

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

has spoken out in support of the MVT, saying that "If we don’t support live music at this level then the future of music in general is in danger".

Issues

One of the key reasons for the foundation of the MVT was the closure of many music venues, such as Brighton's Blind Tiger Club, due to noise complaints; this is especially important as noise complaints are becoming more frequent, as new laws have been introduced that make it easier to convert offices into housing. Another key concern that the MVT claims is facing venues is

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

's lack of funding for venues; Beverley Whitrick, Strategic Director of the MVT, said in 2017 she could not estimate how many clubs would close in the next five years.

Initiatives

The MVA founded an international affiliate organisation in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

in 2016, targeting state taxes that are seen as punitive towards local venues as well as the MVA New Zealand where they are fighting to have Agent of Change recognised and adopted. To clarify its political aims ahead of the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

, the MVT launched a "Manifesto for Music 2017" in May of that year. Two months after the launch of the manifesto, in order to help fight the issues and closures that music venues in the UK were facing, the MVT announced that they would cooperate with Ticketweb, part of

Live Nation Entertainment Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...

, to sell "Grassroots Venues Tickets", which help fund the MVT's efforts, as part of the

service charge A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contra ...

is donated to the MVT.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Music charities based in the United Kingdom Charities based in London 2014 establishments in England Arts charities Arts organizations established in 2004