A statement from AIF CEO John Rostron on Government response to Culture, Media & Sport Committee Inquiry into Grassroots Music Venues

"As a founding member of LIVE, we welcome Government support for the establishment of the LIVE Trust and a voluntary levy on arena and stadium concert tickets to support grassroots music venues. Once established, we urge more major artists to follow in the footsteps of Coldplay, Sam Fender and Enter Shikari in applying mechanisms by which money can be distributed to the grassroot music ecosystem.

"However, we are disappointed that the Government is not exploring different models of VAT, including lower levels of VAT on grassroots music activity - such as a reduction of VAT on festival ticket sales to 5%, which would have saved the more than 60 UK festivals that have fallen in 2024 alone. We reject the idea that any reduction would need to be funded. Venues and festivals are closing and will continue to do so. With lower VAT, many would remain open and make a positive contribution to HM Treasury and revenue collection.

"It must be emphasised that the relationship between festivals and grassroots music venues is highly interlinked. Audiences, artists, promoters and crew flow in and out of these spaces as one, creating opportunities, driving creativity and developing talent. More directly, there are over 100 multi-venue music festivals in the UK that utilise grassroots music venues as part of their offer. In this space, the work, challenges and ambitions of AIF and Music Venue Trust are shared, as we seek to mitigate the closure of festivals and events, as well as venues.