FAC appears in front of parliamentary committee on grassroots music

Last week, our CEO, David Martin appeared in Parliament with Lily Fontaine from the band English Teacher, where they spoke to MP’s on the Culture, Media & Sport Committee about the ongoing crisis facing grassroots music venues and to represent the artists’ voice.

Last year, the UK experienced a net loss of 125 grassroots music venues (GMVs) across the UK, equivalent to over a tenth of the sector. David Martin spoke in depth about how this is about much more than venues, but an entire ecosystem that stems from the artists.

He also discussed our 100% Venues campaign, which we have relaunched this week. As well as this, he gave multiple case studies stating that multiple artists would have made a loss on tour if it wasn’t for merchandise sales.

During the inquiry, our CEO, David Martin noted:

“Yes, the ecosystem is essential, but it’s the artist activity that drives that ecosystem. We need to put funding in the hands of artists, they are the tastemakers, the music makers, the creators and the audience developers. I fully support the rest of the ecosystem being funded, but too frequently artists and music makers are not supported.”