Music Venue Trust | website |
By: Dan Salter
As part of our ongoing coverage of Independent Venue Week we spoke to Beverly Whitrick of the newly formed Music Venue Trust to find out what the state of the industry is and why we need an organisation like theirs.
(((o))): What’s the reasoning behind Venues Trust? Why have you set-up and what are you aiming to achieve?
BW: The Music Venue Trust was created in January 2014 to protect the UK live music network. Its immediate focus is on securing the long term future of the iconic venues which make up the grassroots circuit, venues like Southampton Joiners, Tunbridge Wells Forum, the 100 Club, Exeter Cavern, Hull Adelphi, Manchester Band on the Wall etc. These venues have played a crucial role in the development of British music over the last 40 years, nurturing local talent, providing a platform for artists to build their careers and develop their music and their performance skills. As the majority of these venues are independently run they have been unrepresented at a national level and therefore not included in consultation about changes in policy that might affect them. Music Venue Trust aims to champion and safeguard venues by providing a collective voice and lobbying on their behalf. In the long-term we hope to secure a network of venues by buying them and leasing them back to the operators to be run as music venues in perpetuity.
(((o))): Why are independent venues important to the UK music scene?
BW: Music venues are an integral part of the cultural infrastructure of the UK, providing places where people can experience live music as audience members, participants and organisers in their local community. Often they attract people who may not attend events in other cultural spaces such as arts centres, theatres, galleries etc. and many are in smaller towns or in parts of cities where they perform an important role in terms of focus for the local creative community. Not only do musicians have their first experiences of playing in front of audiences, allowing them to develop their craft, in smaller venues, but many people that go on to work as professionals in the arts or music industry do so thanks to opportunities volunteering or working as bookers, promoters, technicians, sound engineers etc. in independent venues.
(((o))): The inaugural Venues Day seemed to be a great success – is this something you were expecting or were you concerned the event wouldn’t really kick anything off?
BW: Venues Day 2014 was created in response to venues saying that they lacked opportunities to network with their peers, and the evidence collected over the months leading up to it that similar fights are being fought in isolation across the UK. We were originally aiming for 80 venues to attend so we were a little anxious when booking opened but once we had confirmed the first few then we were able to use that information to encourage others to come along. In the end over 120 venues were represented on the day so we are very proud of achievement.
(((o))): Have you had any feedback from venues about the day?
BW: We have received a great deal of feedback which we have used to shape our thinking about how to proceed as an organisation in 2015. We believe that if you are going to work on behalf of people then you need to keep listening to their thoughts on what you are doing.
(((o))): The Trust now has official charity status – why did you think that was an important step?
BW: To date we have operated on extremely limited resources. In order to attract potential funding from within the music industry, or related industries, then it’s helpful to be a charity as accounting mechanisms exist which allow larger companies to support the work of charitable organisations. It also allows us to accept donations from anyone else who wants to support our work.
(((o))): Tell us a bit about the proposed Venues Alliance – what do you hope it will be able to achieve? Have many venues signed up yet?
BW: There has been a great deal of discussion about the need for a representative body for independent venues, be it a union, a federation, a network etc. This is a really interesting idea but creating the right sort of organisation that offers what the majority of members require is something that would take time, research, discussion and financial backing. We feel that this may be a longer-term target for the sector but in the short-term have proposed the creation of an informal association of venues and other organisations/individuals passionate about this part of the music industry. This simply asks people to ‘opt in’ to an association, so empowering Music Venue Trust to act on their behalf in lobbying and negotiating benefits for the sector. Being able to attend meetings where you have a mandate from x number of venues strengthens our voice enormously. In return we will keep MVA ‘members’ posted about development and create an interactive online forum where they can discuss issues and concerns with their peers.
In the past couple of weeks we have received opt-in forms for nearly 80 venues plus a range of arts and music industry representatives, artists and journalists. We are hopeful that this number will grow over the next few weeks.
(((o))): A key idea that seemed to emerge from Venues Day was that of tax breaks for venues along the lines of those given to theaters & orchestras. What needs to be done to make that a realistic goal?
BW: Tax legislation is extremely complex but we are working on advancing on this issue both at a political level (Kerry McCarthy MP and Mike Weatherley MP undertook to take this forward on our behalf following their participation in Venues Day) and by discussing it with legal and financial experts. The fact that there is a general election in 2015 will slow up any progress we might make but it is something we are working towards.
(((o))): What are your plans for the next 12 months and beyond?
BW: After some down-time over Christmas we returned to work with 3 commitments for 2015. The first was to establish the Music Venues Alliance, the second and third are as follows:
Lobbying / Campaigning / Profile-raising – Coming out of Venues Day we have an incredibly long list of organisations keen to meet and discuss potential future work. Our priority is to pick a small number of issues on which we believe something can be achieved relatively quickly. If we can gain agreements that will save venues money, help with legal issues or ensure that they are treated as a cultural venues rather than nightclubs by their local authority then we believe that these are things that are to everyone’s benefit. Once we get started and get some gains under our belt then we will be in a stronger position for developing long-term strategic plans.
Venues Day 2015 – When we undertook Venues Day 2014 we were cautious about the use of the word inaugural as it wasn’t clear whether there would be a need or a will to repeat the event. We can now confidently say that there is a demand for further opportunities for networking, information sharing and collective discussion. The first event of a kind can never be replicated but we will undertake to work with the Music Venues Alliance to design something that will bring people together for mutual benefit in autumn 2015.
(((o))): What can our readers do to help the cause?
BW: Your readers are welcome to opt in to the Music Venues Alliance to receive information about our work as it progresses and participate in any discussion that might take place amongst members. They can write to us at musicvenuetrust (at) gmail.com with a message titled MVA if they want to know more. And of course the most important thing that anyone can do to support independent venues is to go to them!
(((o))): You have an initiative to get people to sign up to be ‘venue champions’. Can you tell us more about that?
BW: As part of the lobbying/campaigning/profile-raising work we are undertaking we want to help venues to demonstrate that they are important as cultural and community resources, particularly to their local authority and other official bodies. One of the ways of doing this is to apply to be listed as an Asset of Community Value. This requires a music lover who lives nearby to volunteer to be a Venue Champion and bring together a minimum of 21 local people prepared to complete and sign a nomination form to submit to the local authority. We have lots of information about the process and can offer support for Venue Champions so interested individuals just need to get in touch to learn more. They can write to us at musicvenuetrust (at) gmail.com with a message titled Venue Champion.
