COVID-19: Small music venues face ‘permanent closure’ after ‘catastrophic’ drop in numbers, charity says | News about Ant-Man & Art
A music charity said small music venues have fallen “catastrophically” since the government announced Plan B COVID-19, with some at risk of “permanent closure”.
The Music Venue Trust says show attendance has dropped 23% in a week, with more than 140,000 performances from ticket holders – resulting in a 27% drop in overall earnings.
The sector faces a loss of nearly £2m – and is now calling on culture secretary Nadine Dorries to create a ‘fenced stabilization fund’, according to a survey of the organisation’s grassroots sites. ” to help.
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It comes after the government announced a plan B on December 8 to deal with the increased cases Coronavirus and the spread of the new Omicron variant, with COVID is now in effect in the UK.
Beverley Whitrick, MVT’s chief strategy officer, said: “This is the busiest time of year for grassroots music venues, accounting for more than 20% of their annual income boosted during the party season.
“The rapid decline in attendance at this time of year is an exponential threat to the entire sector, and losses of this magnitude will not be sustained without pushing hundreds of The music venue is in crisis and in danger of closing permanently.
“An ‘absence’ not only costs ticket sales, but also food and excess staff costs.”
According to the charity, sales of pre-booked tickets also dropped 27%, while around 61% of venues also said they had to cancel at least one event the week of December 6-13 – the biggest reason being a performer or member of a touring group. tested positive for COVID (35.6%).
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The results were compiled from a survey by the Alliance of Music Venues – a network of 918 UK grassroots music venues, of which 284 responded.
MVT CEO Mark Davyd said: “It feels like we’re back to exactly where we were in March 2020, when the government’s misleading message generated a ‘secret key’ ‘ – locations may appear to be open but in reality the money is pouring out at a rate that will inevitably result in permanent closure unless the government acts quickly to stop it.”
Sky News has reached out to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for comment.
