Story By Matthew Otridge

Ownership Co-ordinator, Music Venue Trust

In 1895, three pioneers of conservation founded what would become the ​National Trust, pledging to preserve the UK’s historic and natural places. Now ​one of the largest landowners in the United Kingdom, its properties include more ​than 500 historic houses, castles, parks and gardens which are protected and ​preserved for generations to come.

In 2014, a group of passionate music fans founded the charity Music Venue Trust ​– its name indeed inspired by the National Trust - to protect, secure and improve ​Grassroots Music Venues in the UK.

CEO and co-founder Mark Davyd declared at the time: “We have a long-term plan ​to protect that live music network which includes, where necessary, taking into ​charitable ownership freehold properties so they can be removed from ​commercial pressures and leased back to passionate music professionals to ​continue their operation.”

But what is a Grassroots Music Venue and why do these spaces need protecting?

Grassroots Music Venues are the starting gun of culture: they propel it forwards ​with the frenetic energy that courses through the soul of our live music ​community. They are run by mavericks for the love of live music; all slightly ​different and unique, but all working towards the singular goal of putting on ​cutting edge new music. They are the research and development labs of the ​multi-billion pound UK Music Industry - a world leader in music and culture.

And whilst the upper echelons of the music industry celebrated record success in ​2023, 125 Grassroots Music Venues (GMVs) in the UK closed that same year.

Each closure impacted 125 different communities across the country, many of ​whom would no longer have access to local, live music.

The closure of Moles in Bath - an iconic 220 capacity venue that first opened its ​doors in 1977 and for almost 50 years hosted bands including Tears For Fears, ​The Smiths, Oasis, Radiohead, Ed Sheeran and Fat Boy Slim at the start of their ​careers - sent shockwaves through the grassroots community. Despite having ​survived recessions, a fire, a pandemic, and decades of social change, the ​situation for Moles in 2023 was insurmountable with the owners citing the ​impact of cost of living.

Moles wasn’t the only venue citing these increases as the reason they had to ​throw in the towel, many venues including Harmonium in Edinburgh and Melodic ​Distraction in Liverpool, both integral to the cultural richness of their ​communities, also had to accept that the cost of living had made their businesses ​unsustainable. Ocean Arts Cardiff had to call it a day, when their landlord hit ​them with a 60% rent rise. Whilst the cost of living crisis has undoubtedly ​exacerbated the issues within the sector, the non-ownership of these cultural ​assets is clearly the root of this problem.

Fundamentally, landlords and venue operators do not share the same ​motivation. Venue operators want to plan for the future and invest in the venue - ​in sustainability, accessibility, diversity, artists and the venue itself, but venue ​owners are interested in the maximum return on investment. This issue of ​ownership underlies almost every other challenge that GMVs have faced during ​the last twenty years; gentrification, noise complaints, under investment, an ​inability to plan for the future and now, the cost of living crisis.

After working hard for seven years to make the sector more resilient, in 2021 ​Music Venue Trust circled back around to the long-term plan of creating a ​National Trust for Music and established Music Venue Properties, a Community ​Benefit Society (CBS) which is a model made popular by community pubs looking ​to raise finance to head off the risk of closure. In recent years, venues in the ​Grassroots Music Venue sector have also used this revolutionary form of finance, ​these include Le Pub (Newport), Sister Midnight (London) and Exchange (Bristol).

A CBS raises finance using Community Shares, a type of withdrawable share that ​allows investors to become members of a Society, like Music Venue Properties. ​These shares allow members to earn interest on their investment and, while they ​can potentially be cashed in after a certain period, they cannot be sold, traded or ​transferred unlike shares in a typical company. Crucially all members are entitled ​to one vote – regardless of how many shares they hold.

This type of revolutionary finance was perfect for a revolutionary idea - by raising ​Community Share Finance, Music Venue Properties could purchase the bricks ​and mortar that house Grassroots Music Venues and create the circumstances ​where great venue operators have security and confidence.

Launched in 2022 under the title “Own Our Venues”, the initial share offer sought ​to raise the money to purchase a small group of venues across the UK and, once ​proof of concept was achieved, would seek to raise more finance to continue ​moving even more venues into community ownership. Whilst most Share Offers ​target a local community to support its local pub or venue, Music Venue ​Properties targeted a national community with a shared interest - the live music ​community.

Almost a year after it launched £2.34 million had been raised through a mix of ​community shares, donations, grants and low interest loans. Over 1,250 music ​fans from across the UK invested in this community movement.

In November 2023, Music Venue Properties purchased The Snug in Atherton, ​Greater Manchester, and in April 2024 The Ferret in Preston became their ​second acquisition.

So, what’s next? First of all, more venue purchases! Music Venue Properties have ​agreed heads of terms on three other properties. From there Music Venue Trust ​and Music Venue Properties will continue to identify new opportunities and be ​ready to act.

They are looking for the live music community to continue to support us; the ​Community Share Offer reopened in October, and we would love you to be a ​part of this story of people power. By investing in Music Venue Properties, you ​can be part of the solution to ensure that, like the historic houses, castles, parks ​and gardens safeguarded by the National Trust, our local Grassroots Music ​Venues are protected and preserved for generations to come.

Find out more about the Music Venue Trust at musicvenuetrust.com