The Music Venue Trust has confirmed an 89% success rate for grassroots music venues that applied for funding via the government's Cultural Recovery Fund (CRF).
Of the 291 applications, 258 were successful, with the total amount awarded to MVA grassroot music venue members totalling £41,352,593 out of an overall distribution of £334,062,243 following Saturday's second tranche.
A total of 13.1% of successful applications from all disciplines across the entire fund were made by MVA grassroots music venue members.
As a result of this fund, the challenges facing the sector have been substantially reduced
Mark Davyd, Music Venue Trust
Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust, said: “Music Venue Trust warmly welcomes this very effective intervention by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport [DCMS] and Arts Council England into the grassroots music venue sector.
"As a result of this fund, the challenges facing the sector have been substantially reduced. Music Venue Trust will now shift its focus and will be announcing plans very shortly to tackle the remaining challenges facing sole traders, smaller venues that did not qualify for support, and the venues who were unsuccessful or were under-funded.”
However, the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has hit out after London dance venues Printworks, The Egg, Studio 338, Oval Spaces and The Pickle Factory had their CRF applications declined.
NTIA CEO Michael Kill said: “We are shocked and dismayed that some of the key contemporary music venues, events and supply chain have been missed out of the cultural recovery fund, and with no clear understanding of the future, this has left many of them in an extremely difficult financial position.
“We have been aware all along that the fund would not be able to support everyone, and will leave many businesses who have missed out on this opportunity awaiting on a perilous cliff edge, but given the significance of some of the businesses that have been left out, we are concerned with regard to eligibility and fair consideration around the types of businesses and the criteria they have been measured against.
“We are keen, alongside hundreds of unsuccessful businesses, to understand the criteria with which some of these decisions have been made, and gain an understanding of when and if there will be further support for the sector through cultural funding, as we are losing important businesses and people every day.”
The Printworks' Simeon Aldred said: “Devastated to hear from the arts council that we did not fit their criteria for a Culture Recovery Fund grant to save venues like Printworks, Depot Mayfield, The Drumsheds and Exhibition. Can someone please help me understand how a company that is privately owned and run by a small team that have built this from scratch with our own money and created as voted by DJs and the audiences some of the most important venues in the UK and possibly the world are not being given even one penny.
“We generated 34,000 freelance shifts at our shows last year and paid millions in VAT and tax. Many of our contemporaries in the uk got the grant (which I am pleased about) but we have not been given a penny. I have to say on a personal note I am completely broken by this.
“All of our venues sit in major regeneration areas and in addition to providing cultural experiences provide jobs for local economies something I would have thought the government would be supportive of. We will keep fighting for the millions of people who attend our shows as we love what we do but hope the arts council could reconsider our application for support.”
Dan Perrin of Studio 338 said: “We were heartbroken to discover that we were not deemed worthy of support by the arts council England. As the biggest nightclub in London and one of the biggest in Europe, this was obviously a shock and something which we find very difficult to understand. The reason given is that they did not feel we are financially viable. Again this is shocking, as before Covid we were widely regarded as one of the most successful venues in the UK and will be again if we are supported during this difficult time.
“Whilst I was delighted to see the likes of the Ministry of Sound and Resident Advisor receive funding, it is clear from my research that the venues and organisations which received support used consultants to complete the paperwork and those which didn’t have this resource or experience of asking for public money were rejected. This is plainly wrong as it means large organisations receive funding whilst independents do not.
“We thank the Arts Council for their efforts so far but ask them to rethink this decision. For one venue in London to receive almost a million pounds, an online ticketing website £750,000 and Studio 338 nothing is a plainly wrong and seems to be based on a competition to see who can write the best proposal as opposed to being a fair system to allow all venues the opportunity to survive this existential threat.”
Laurence Malice, brand manager/creative director, Egg LDN, said: “We are devastated by the news we will not be supported by funding from the Cultural Recovery Fund, Egg London has and always had over the last 17 years a large outreach ethos from setting up workshops with the local council estate projects to show the community that there are other ways to live your life outside of crime. We also have close ties with Central St Martins setting up Exhibitions and Events with the No 1 Arts University in the World.”
“We support grassroots DJ performers and promoters and Live Events by offering Cell 200 to many free of hire fees to help cultivate new talent within the community. The main body of the club is used during the day as a DJ School for Music Production courses to help local youngsters procure a sought after skill.”
Jo Splain of Pickle Factory/Oval Space said: “I am still at a loss as to how our venues have not received any support from the Cultural Recovery Fund. We are renowned for the depth and quality of our events programme and for our importance to a long list of underrepresented communities, movements, artists and creatives with whom we work and welcome on a daily basis.
“Yes, the ethos behind our programming is most certainly rooted in club culture, and we are proud of this, the celebration of diversity, inclusivity and it's disruptive nature.But, if spaces more closely aligned with authentic club culture have for some reason been overlooked by this fund, then there simply must be alternative financial support made available to them."
