Sector Plan contains promising signs for grassroots music

One year on from Labour’s election victory and their most significant endorsement of the UK’s creative potential has landed: last week, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport shared its Creative Industries Sector Plan.

As Culture Minister Lisa Nandy states in the foreword: “The UK is recognised as the best place in the world to make and invest in film and TV, music, performing and visual arts, video games, advertising and beyond.”

For the first time in a while, the feeling is optimistic.

Grassroots music in the UK has been crying out for support. The last two years saw 125 venues (16% of the total) close, a 8.3% drop in live music shows, a 13.5% reduction in ticket revenues, and a growing fear that one of our great cultural exports is withering in post-Covid malaise.

The new plan references grassroots music throughout and seems to address some of the subsector’s key challenges head on.

What’s in the detail?

So how exactly will the plans help? And what do the professionals keeping grassroots music alive make of the government’s guarantees?

First up, Tony Ereira, director of not-for-profit music development organisation and record label Come Play With Me says: “The biggest challenge we face is funding our work… In the last two to three years… public funding has become very difficult to come by as there are just more mouths to feed.”

Funding is essential for venue improvements, talent programmes and local touring initiatives, especially in an economic climate characterised by rising costs everywhere. But it is notoriously hard for the grassroots music sector to access.

Faced with complex funding applications and limited resources to complete them, grassroots nightlife venues often get dismissed as hospitality or leisure, rather than culture. And of Arts Council England’s national portfolio of 990 organisations, there are only four music venues and six talent music development organisations.

Cultural devolution

Devolving funding to local authorities, rather funnelling everyone through ACE, is something grassroots professionals have been hoping for. The plan details a new Creative Growth Fund (CGF) of £150 million over three years to be devolved to six Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs) that can design tailored interventions to support grassroots music venues and emerging artists in their regions.

Ereira says: “I’m excited (provided we avoid replication of poor national processes regionally) about the opportunities that cultural devolution could bring.” He is already working with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority “to create an action plan, identifying the biggest gaps and proposing priorities for investment”.

Local authorities now have to manage this in a way that doesn’t recreate challenges for the grassroots. More money is great, but barriers to accessing it still need removing. The MSAs will need to make processes more inclusive for grassroots music, but at least the CGF means less distance between the sector, who know what they need, and the funding that will enable it.

Grassroots music venue in Leeds – Old Red Bus Station. Photo: Alex Wilson

Financial improvements will also come in the form of the British Business Bank increasing support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through debt and equity finance, while business rates will be lowered for premises with rateable values under £500,000 from 2026/27.

Most of the grassroots music sector is comprised of SMEs, some of which have been killed off by the cut to business relief this year. These new provisions will make loans or investment capital available to fund operations and renovation projects.

It will take time to kick in, but creative businesses can begin to familiarise themselves with these options, making use of the likes of Creative UK to help navigate the new financial landscape.

Supporting people

But it’s about more than just money. Investment in the people that make culture happen and make the industry sustainable is equally important.

The Music Growth Package in the plan promises up to £30 million over three years to support emerging artists and help music businesses invest in talent, while a batch of programmes, from a curriculum review to a new Creative Careers service, are designed to build better skills and careers in music at every level.

John McGrath is chief exec and artistic director of Factory International in Manchester. Alongside Manchester International Festival and a world-class arts space, he also runs Factory Academy – a talent development programme to guide young people into the creative industries.

McGrath welcomes the plan’s emphasis on making creative sector careers viable and attractive, fundamental to the grassroots sector’s long-term success: “A lot of Factory Academy’s focus is getting young people from areas of Manchester where the industries and job opportunities have diminished and showing them that this is an industry that you can work in…

“It doesn’t need to be mysterious, and it doesn’t need to be for posh people: it can be for everyone, and there are real jobs [that] can really have a great impact on people’s lives.”

The government campaigned on a promise of changing how creative education and careers are viewed. They’re taking the sector seriously and it’s reassuring to see them recognise the workforce and economic potential of the sector and grassroots music.

‘Agent of change’ principle

For venues, there are other promising signs. There’s a nod to the ‘agent of change’ principle that means new developments such as housing can co-exist with venues. This has been at the heart of the work of the Music Venue Trust (MVT), a charity fighting for grassroots venues through advocacy and direct support.

Sophie Brownlee, their external affairs manager says: “Agent of change is a vital planning tool to protect grassroots music venues (GMVs) … We look forward to hearing more detail on the government’s plans to improve implementation of this.” It’s an encouraging motion, even if meat on the bones is missing.

Similarly, a £1 ticket levy on stadium and arena gigs to create a grassroots funding pot, ardently argued for by campaigners, artists, venues and politicians, is mentioned. Again, no implementation steps are mapped out, but the plan claims it will deliver up to £20 million annually once in action.

It’s something the MVT “has campaigned on for ten years” and which Brownlee describes as “a big win for the GMV sector and will make a crucial and ongoing difference to grassroots music venues’ ability to develop in the long-term”.

Awaiting the detail

Above all, the plan represents promise and reflects years of lobbying and dialogue. The hard work of groups like the Music Venue Trust, Save Our Scene and ambassadors across the sector can be seen in the direct responses to grassroots’ unique challenges, as well as the big swings to improve funding and financing.

There is still vagueness around implementation. Timelines are listed for things like the Creative Places Fund, but there’s little else in terms of delivery specifics or next steps.

And we can’t forget the many factors harming grassroots music that are beyond the scope of an Industry Plan such as this – a vanishing music press, digital transformations in music consumption and discovery, shifts in spending among young people, and the tedious economic chapter we seem stuck in.

There is still work to do: between now and implementation, the grassroots will still need the support of their networks and of audiences. While we await the detail, the grassroots sector can take some assurance that they’ve been listened to.