The Music Venue Trust (MVT) has confirmed that funds raised from Sam Fender’s arena tour at the end of 2024 have now been distributed, via its Liveline Fund, to support 38 independent venues across England, Scotland, and Wales.
The Liveline Fund was created by Music Venue Trust and live music advocates Save Our Scene (SOS) to distribute funding directly to grassroots venues, artists and promoters with financial support raised by contributions from arena and stadium ticket sales. Artists including Sam Fender, Katy Perry, Coldplay and Enter Shikari were early adopters of the grassroots levy and have enabled Liveline to begin fuelling the future of UK grassroots music.Venues to receive funding include Stereo, Sub Club, Paper Dress Vintage, The Hunter Club, The White Hotel, The Strines Nightingale, Spanners, The Garibaldi Hotel, Moor Beer Vaults, Slay Glasgow, Hippos, Ashburton Arts Centre, Clwb Ifor Bach, Newhampton Arts Centre, The Verdict, The Peer Hat, and venues based in the North East like Little Buildings, NE Volume Music Bar & Venue, and The Globe.In Glasgow, the Sub Club explained how support from the Liveline Fund has been transformative.In Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach said the grant has resolved a critical technical issue: “This funding means we finally have our main room back up to the standard we expect of ourselves for the artists who visit our venue.”