Abbreviation | MVT |
---|---|
Formation | January 2014 |
Type | Charitable organisation |
Registration no. | 1159846 [1] |
Location |
|
Region served | United Kingdom, United States |
CEO | Mark Davyd [1] |
COO | Beverley Whitrick [1] |
Staff | 16 |
Website | https://www.musicvenuetrust.com/ |
The Music Venue Trust is a UK registered charitable organisation which aims to protect, secure and improve grassroots music venues in the United Kingdom. [2]
Paul McCartney has spoken out in support of the MVT, saying in 2016 that "If we don’t support live music at this level then the future of music in general is in danger". [3]
Concerned by a growing number of closures across the United Kingdom and therefore the decline in the number of spaces available for artists to perform and connect with audiences, a group of passionate individuals came together in 2014 to form the organisation. Recognising the vital role that music venues play in not only nurturing talent, fostering creativity, and providing memorable experiences but also bringing communities together, MVT adopted a proactive approach to protect and champion these essential cultural spaces.
One of the key reasons for the foundation of the MVT was the closure of many music venues, such as Brighton's Blind Tiger Club, due to noise complaints; [4] this is especially important as noise complaints are becoming more frequent, as new laws have been introduced that make it easier to convert offices into housing. [5] Another key concern that the MVT claims is facing venues is Arts Council England's lack of funding for venues; Beverley Whitrick, Strategic Director of the MVT, said in 2017 she could not estimate how many clubs would close in the next five years. [6]
The MVA founded an international affiliate organisation in Austin, Texas in 2016, targeting state taxes that are seen as punitive towards local venues, [7] as well as the MVA New Zealand, where they advocating to have Agent of Change recognised and adopted. [8] To clarify its political aims ahead of the 2017 general election, the MVT launched a "Manifesto for Music 2017" in May of that year. [9] Two months later, in order to help fight the issues and closures that music venues in the UK were facing, the MVT announced that they would cooperate with Live Nation Entertainment's Ticketweb to sell "Grassroots Venues Tickets", which had a part of their service charge donated to help fund the MVT's efforts. [10]
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days and featured more than 51,446 scheduled performances of 3,317 different shows across 262 venues from 58 different countries. Of those shows, the largest section was comedy, representing almost 40% of shows, followed by theatre, which was 26.6% of shows.
The 100 Club is a music venue located at 100 Oxford Street, London, England, where it has been hosting live music since 24 October 1942. It was originally called the Feldman Swing Club, but changed its name when the father of the current owner took over in 1964.
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The Brudenell Social Club is a live music venue and social club in Hyde Park, Leeds, England. While being a social enterprise, it retains the "community atmosphere of its origins as a working men's club". The club is split into three areas—a 400 capacity concert room, a bar area and games room section and a second 400 capacity concert area, known as the Community Room, which opened in 2017.
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Knaack was a nightclub in Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin, Germany. It opened in 1952 as a youth club and occasional disco. It then developed during the East German era into a live music venue where many notable German bands played regularly. Gentrification of the surrounding area in the late 2000s led to complaints about the club's noise from residents of newly constructed apartment buildings nearby. A court case resulted, placing restrictions on the noise levels, which the owners judged made the club financially untenable, resulting in its closure on 31 December 2010. After efforts to reopen in another district, the club secured new premises in Prenzlauer Berg and announced in February 2013 that they planned to reopen in 2016. Delays due to construction permits pushed these plans back to 2018. As of 2023 no construction has begun.
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The Blind Tiger Club was a mixed music, arts and community venue in Brighton, England, which opened in 2010. The venue closed in 2014, and Time Out described the venue as "semi-legendary", in its round-up of Brighton's live music scene that year. In 2015, Gigwise included the club in their list of the UK's Greatest Lost Venues.
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