Photo Credit: Music Venue Trust
Music Venue Trust has announced it has received a £60,000 ($75K USD) donation from Ticketmaster. MVT is a UK charity which represents hundreds of grassroots music venues across the country.
The contribution comes from Ticketmaster’s optional fan donation, which allows music lovers to support grassroots music venues with every ticket purchase. Ticketmaster matches every pound donated and over the past two years has contributed more than £150,000 ($187K USD) to support the future of live music at the grassroots level.
These funds go directly into Music Venue Trust’s Pipeline Investment Fund, which supports UK music venues, artists, and promoters. The fund was established in 2022 with the support of members of the Music Venues Alliance and was originally funded by donations from ticket sales of MVT’s ‘Revive Live’ program of gigs around the United Kingdom.
Since its launch, several other companies and organizations have run initiatives and made donations to the Pipeline Investment Fund, which has raised and allocated over £5 million ($6.25M USD), including over £500,000 ($625K USD) into grassroots music venues infrastructure.
“We have long been supporters of MVT’s work and proud to have helped raise £60K in 2024 through our annual MVT upsell where we match every pound donated by fans on our site,” adds Andrew Parsons, Managing Director, Ticketmaster UK.
“This brings our upsell total to £150K in just two years. This initiative is a big deal to us, and this year we’ve teamed up with some iconic spaces including Epic Studios, Hackney Church, Alfies, The Piano Bar, Soul Mama, and Y Plas nightclub, and we look forward to supporting them and other grassroots music venues long into the future.”
“We are very grateful to Ticketmaster and its customers for their support at a time when this type of initiative is very much needed,” continues Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust. “Their recognition that grassroots music venues are struggling badly just to keep the lights on without these types of donations and their efforts to do something about it is extremely welcome!”