The Music Venue Trust has defended the live music industry after a recent study found that half of Brits felt they’d been ‘priced out’ of seeing live music.
The YouGov survey found that more than three-quarters of Britons (77%) think the price to see live music is expensive, with 44% saying it’s ‘very’ expensive.
But the MVT wants to raise awareness for how affordable live music can be, if fans are willing to let go of the likes of Harry Styles and Taylor Swift (who are, admittedly, very expensive artists to go and see).
The music venue charity described the research as ‘incredibly depressing’ and argued that live music is ‘literally the cheapest, easiest, most accessible cultural experience there is’.
The MVT pointed out that there are ‘brilliant, live affirming, incredible shows’ happening every day of the year with tickets for less than a tenner.
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It stressed that schools, communities and the media need to champion these smaller, grassroots music scenes as much as the gigs with the ‘flying pianos or cartwheeling robots’.
Blossoms at Night & Day. Credit: The Manc GroupBand on the Wall. Credit: Jody HartleyThe Pink Room at YES. Credit: Facebook, Yes ManchesterGrassroots music venues were used as an example of why music isn’t ‘too expensive’
The YouGov survey also found that most people think £40 or less is a fair price for a ticket – but 75% of the gig-going public have paid more than £50.
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It means that even those who are willing to cough up the increasingly high prices for live music are paying what they feel is over the odds.
The full open letter, signed by the Music Venue Trust’s CEO Mark Davyd, is below.
“In a new YouGov survey the UK public says less than £40 is a fair price for a live music ticket. The headline also says that people are being ‘priced out of attending’ live music events.
“There are literally hundreds of brilliant, live affirming, incredible shows happening every single day at local grassroots music venues. The average price of admission is £10.90 a ticket, but there’s almost certainly one near you this week for less than a tenner. They are performed by fantastically talented musicians, just as good as any you’ll see on a huge stage. There won’t be flying pianos or cartwheeling robots, but these days there will be great sound and lighting, delivered by professional technicians. Bar prices are affordable, the staff are welcoming, and the audience in them wants you there as part of the community. And no, Harry Styles isn’t playing, but you know who is? Somebody who deserves an audience just as much, who has written as many songs, is just as passionate about the music they are making, who has something to perform for you that you might fall in love with.
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“This survey says an incredibly depressing number of people didn’t attend a live music show in 2022. About a fifth of people apparently didn’t go because they thought they couldn’t afford it. So there’s something seriously wrong there, because it’s literally the cheapest, easiest, most accessible cultural experience there is.
“Let’s make sure every parent knows that. Let’s get every school teaching their pupils that. Let’s get out into our communities and make sure that every single person in them knows they have access to live music. Let’s ensure our local and national press are reflecting that. Let’s see the incredible music from these fantastic spaces on our TV, talked about on our radio, part of the national discussion of who we are and what we do.
“Let’s find the one third of the public who didn’t attend a show in 2022 and make sure they know what they are missing out on. 14% of people regularly attended a gig in 2022. Let’s double that. Let’s make 2023 the best year of live music ever.
“Let’s never leave anybody in the UK believing that this headline is true ever again.”
Featured image: The Manc Group
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Oasis release trailer for Don’t Look Back In Anger documentary – watch it here
Daisy Jackson
A new trailer for the upcoming Oasis documentary, ‘Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger’, has been released today.
The highly anticipated documentary follows the iconic Manchester rock band as they reunited for a series of epic comeback gigs last summer.
The Gallagher brothers broke up the band 15 years prior to the Live ’25 shows, then returned in spectacular fashion for gigs including five sold-out nights at Heaton Park in Manchester.
The band were followed throughout their triumphant comeback tour by film crews, for the documentary film ‘Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger’.
Fans will see never-before-seen snippets of rehearsal, backstage, and onstage, as well as the first joint interview with Liam and Noel in more than 20 years.
It will also explores the profound impact that the reunion had on fans, and chart the global phenomenon that was Oasis Live ’25.
One of the people behind the new documentary is Steven Knight, of Peaky Blinders fame.
Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger will be released in the UK on Wednesday 9 September and you can book tickets HERE.
Watch the full trailer for Oasis: Don’t Look Back In Anger below:
Elbow get behind campaign to save Jodrell Bank from closure
Danny Jones
Manc band Elbow are among the latest to get behind the campaign to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from closing permanently.
The Greater Manchester natives famously played a sold-out gig at the important scientific and cultural landmark for a very special live album recording well over a decade ago, and know all too well the site’s national and, indeed, global heritage.
Choosing the Observatory and the rare chance to perform a show in the shadow of the world-renowned James Lovell Telescope, it probably remains one of their most significant standalone UK date ever.
With that in mind, the local lads have been left just as worried by the news of its impending closure as everyone else, and have therefore issued a fresh appeal to help keep it open.
Posting a timely statement on social media, the group wrote: “Jodrell Bank has long been close to elbow’s heart. In 2012, the band played beneath the Lovell Telescope for one of the most memorable shows in our history.
“The recent news that funding for the e-MERLIN radio telescope network is set to end in 2028 puts the future of the scientific work at Jodrell Bank under serious threat. It is a remarkable place, with an extraordinary history, and one that continues to play an important role in science, culture and education.”
In addition to reliving clips and images from the historic live set all the years later, they also pointed people towards their ‘elbow – Live at Jodrell Bank‘ album documentary, which has now been made available online for the very first time as part of wider efforts to raise awareness around the cause.
Directing people to key online resources shared by the institution and astrophysics centre itself following their unfortunate update late last month, the push to not only find the funding but sustain support for the facility continues to ramp up throughout the world of science, arts and industry.
For anyone who somehow missed the news – 2028 being the current deadline handed down as per budget cuts across the sector – concerned parties here in the North West and all over the country have since started petitioning to save Jodrell Bank Observatory from shutting down for good.
In addition to being described as a “huge blow” to the field by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), some have even gone so far as to describe the decision as a form of “vandalism” when it comes to research and British culture as a whole.
Having also served as the host venue for the annual bluedot Festival since 2016, the multi-genre science and arts celebration could soon be forced to find a new home.
The battle is far from over yet, and the community has time to rescue Jodrell Bank Observatory from its fate, but it will take lots of money and more notable public figures to make it happen.
Once again, you can do your bit by signing the petition mentioned above right HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
28th December 2022 
