Music Editor David Evans chats to local venues about how they are managing during the lockdown and looks ahead to possible challenges down the line
As one of the hardest hit industries in the UK, many arts venues and companies are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy as the Treasury announced their £1.5bn arts investment on the 5th of July. In Birmingham and across the country, independent music venues have faced huge challenges due to a loss of revenue and limited access to funding. According to UK Music, 90% of these grassroots music venues are at risk of closure whilst the sector is estimated to have lost over £900 million in earnings due to the lockdown, leaving 30-50% of the workforce facing unemployment. Being second largest in the world by size, irreparable damage to the UK’s music industry at the grassroots level could put one of the country’s greatest assets under threat.
90% of these grassroots music venues are at risk of closure whilst the sector is estimated to have lost over £900 million in earnings due to the lockdown
The announced funding has come at a desperate time as organisations like the Music Venues Trust and Music UK have worked tirelessly to raise money at a national level. So far, campaigner’s efforts have raised over £1 million with the #SaveOurVenues fund and directly prevented 91 closures at the grassroots level via the Grassroots Music Venue Crisis Fund. Whilst the new government funding is a welcome light of hope for most, questions over the viability of smaller venues still remains as access to the grants and loans is yet to be decided. For many, concerns around the nature of reopening remain as the possibility of socially distanced gigs would likely be only feasible for large arenas and venues with higher capacities.
On the eve of the funding announcement, some local venues were facing possible closure. Writing in their Crowdfunder statement, the popular underground club Suki10C declared that they are ‘now at a point where we do not know how long we will be able to survive.’ A complete loss of income and no payouts from insurance has forced Suki10C and a number of other venues to turn to public fundraising in order to stay afloat. With no current end date to the closure of venues and unknowns surrounding how much small venues will be able to receive from the government funds, crowdfunding has been a useful tool to save many of Birmingham’s beloved venues.
We are now at a point where we do not know how long we will be able to survive
Fortunately, many of these efforts have been well received. Like other campaigns, the Sunflower Lounge’s #GiginUrLounge series has secured crucial funding, reaching its £5,000 target. Speaking for the venue, Samantha Daly, from Birmingham Promotors, told Redbrick that the support had been ‘overwhelming’ as artists across the world recorded live shows in aid of the venue. Yet, even with the additional funds, with the unknown length of lockdown, The Sunflower Lounge has ‘got to keep paying even though we’re not open.’ With little guidance provided from the government, the venue is seriously concerned about the possibility of social distanced reopening as ‘independent venues already struggle and having to strip attendance down is just not viable.’
Other local spots have used the lockdown to focus on maintaining their communities and keeping spirits high over the challenging period. Whilst they have been forced to cancel some of their biggest shows of the year, The Night Owl have kept running their regular Soul and Disco nights, ‘Dig’ and ‘Le Freak’ from the comfort of their homes via live streams. ‘Championing our online community is a big part of our approach to the lockdown,’ Events Manager Sophie Hack told Redbrick when we spoke about their online interaction with patrons. By selling merchandise, curated playlists and limited edition vinyl alongside the live streams, The Night Owl hopes to build that sense of community and maintain some stable business over this period. Even so, the venue’s approach is to take things ‘day by day’ as there is ‘still a way to go, [we] need to keep pulling together and pulling forward.’
Like other businesses, The Night Owl has been able to capitalise on the reopening of pubs introduced on the 4th of July. Many of Birmingham’s pub-fronted venues like the Castle & Falcon and the Dark Horse Mosley have been able to open their doors to customers and serve food and drink, providing a welcome opportunity to begin trading again. Even so, the challenge to the local Birmingham community remains high. Many of the area’s biggest events this summer have been cancelled, creating a huge loss of earnings for organisers and other local businesses. The Sonic Gun Weekender, Made Festival and The Mosely Mostly Jazz, Funk and Soul Festival have all fallen foul of the pandemic’s timing as many promotors and events companies are left to predict when future events will be able to return, organising future gigs on the basis of gambling over when restrictions will ease.
Government funding ‘won’t save every job’ and aims to protect the ‘Crown Jewels’ of the arts sector
For those looking to help venues during this time, the message is unanimous: hold onto any gig tickets you have purchased if you are financially able to do so. Many promotors and venues often pay deposits when booking artists, making events a lost investment in the event of a full refund. Whilst the new government funding does come as a huge relief, many small and independent venues are not out of the woods yet. As Government ministers temper expectations, announcing that the new funding ‘won’t save every job’ and aims to protect the ‘Crown Jewels’ of the art sector, worries over the future of local and grassroots level venues persist. Furthermore, given the small capacity nature of these venues, the application process, which asks venues to prove how they contributed to wider economic growth, may very well exclude those at the local level. Whilst having a smaller economic impact than larger arenas and concert halls, local venues are arguably culturally invaluable, often providing the proving grounds for many of the UK’s biggest artists and would be an irreparable loss to the industry.
Clearly, across the country and in Birmingham, Government arts funding is a welcome aid. Yet, the future for many small venues is by no means clear and it is likely that local communities will still have to play a crucial role in protecting their businesses amidst the lockdown if they wish for them to survive the crisis.
If you would like to help any of the causes mentioned previously, resources are available below:
The Sunflower Lounge Crowdfunder
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