Will the Minister provide an update on what funding is available for music venues to rebuild their audiences?
The Music Venues Trust (MVT) has recently launched its annual report highlighting the issues faced by grass roots music venues. Whilst venues are facing a number of challenges, the report does not include ‘audience numbers’ as one of these. In fact, the report states that public demand for live music was likely not a factor in the closure of grassroots music venues across the UK and that overall demand for live music remained broadly consistent.
That said, Creative Wales continues to work closely with MVT and our Grassroots Music Venues across Wales, with total support for venues and businesses totalling over £9m since its inception in January 2020. Whilst the MVT report does highlight closures of venues in Wales, we are also seeing new venues opening. On 30 January, the Albert Hall in Swansea announced it is reopening as a music venue, following a £5.6m investment from the Welsh Government.