21/02/2026
Credit • their Annual Report highlights the stark truth that 59% of grassroots music venues no longer receive regular national touring shows. Whole regions - towns and cities with millions of people - have effectively vanished from the UK’s touring map.
That means lost jobs, as we’ve already reported, struggling venues, declining audiences, and an industry shrinking into a handful of big cities.
But we’re not standing still.
MVT and Liveline funding helps venues to grow, and not just stay open - giving them the tools to rejoin the touring circuit. We also invest directly in tours to towns and cities that have fallen off the national map, proving there is an audience and value in returning.
The live music map shouldn’t be postcode-dependent. We all know that some of the greatest scenes in UK music history have come from all over the nations, in all sorts of pockets in the North, South, East, West, and Midlands. We’re working to make sure every community can access live music, and every artist can build a real national audience.
Read our report at MusicVenueTrust.com (or via our bio 🔗) to find out what’s happening across the nations, with an additional focus on Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
