Manchester has asked culture secretary Oliver Dowden and chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak for £16.4m over the next two years to directly support fifty city music venues and organisations.
The figure asked for follows close liaison over the last weeks and months during lockdown between the council, cultural leaders and venues of all kinds, to come up with a comprehensive cultural recovery plan for the city, taking in all aspects of culture including live music.
As a result of these discussions the council wrote to government on July 8 asking for a total of £71.8m over the next two years to restart, repair, and rethink cultural life in the city. This included an overall stabilisation package of £36m to stop venues and cultural organisations going bust and closing permanently, and a further stimulus package of £30.7m to re-ignite and boost the city-wide cultural economy over the next two years.
The government ask includes £8.4m that has been earmarked to provide direct stabilisation support to fifty music venues and organisations in Manchester.
As well as talking directly to cultural organisations the council has also been in discussion with the British Council, the Music Venue Trust, and its partners in the global Music Cities Network – which Manchester was invited to become a member of last year.
Through these talks a clear and urgent need was identified for the £8.4m immediate stabilisation support for live music venues to be further topped up, over the next two years, with an additional £8m to provide a dedicated music stimulus package. Together this would provide a total of £16.4m for Manchester’s music sector to give it the support it needs to get back up and running, and to help it plan for the future with more confidence.
Debra King, Chair of Manchester Music City, and Director Brighter Sound, said: “As a city with music at the heart of our DNA, Manchester’s venues are absolutely crucial and are at the core of the city’s music ecology. With this kind of investment from the government we would have a real chance of saving this part of the city’s cultural identity, and the jobs and livelihoods that go with it.”
The support package for the music venue sector is seen as vital life-support for the city’s venues, many of which have been keeping musicians and technicians, bar staff and others in jobs for decades, as well as helping gig-goers make memories that last a life-time.
At the start of the pandemic the Music Venue Trust warned that 550 independent music venues up and down the country, including bars, clubs and gig venues were at imminent risk of closure as a result of Covid-19.
With 21 Manchester venues in its membership, the Trust has been leading the #saveourvenues campaign calling for government support to protect venues including a VAT cut on ticket sales to help the industry back on its feet.
It says that the music industry generates £5.2bn a year for the UK economy and a further £2.7bn in export revenues, but is facing a substantial loss of grassroots infrastructure, with 90 percent of venues and festivals at risk of permanent closure. The Trust estimates that for every £10 ticket sale for a grassroots music venue, £17 is spent elsewhere in the local night-time economy.
Jay Taylor, North West Co-ordinator, Music Venue Trust, GMCA Night-time Economy Taskforce member, and in-house promoter at much-loved music venue Night and Day in Manchester, said: “The contribution that grassroots music venues play in the development of future talent and the opportunities they provide can’t be overestimated. Inside these intimate independent spaces creative chances are taken, live industry roles are nurtured and encouraged, enthusiasts gather and career altering deals are made. And of course, these venues play a crucial role in the night-time economy of not just Manchester but of towns and cities throughout the UK.”
The economic case alone for supporting the city’s music venues could not be clearer.
Figures contained in the Greater Manchester Tourism Review carried out in 2019 to assess the role of music and the visitor economy, show that Greater Manchester’s music ecosystem alone was responsible for generating a turnover of approximately £896 million in 2017.
