Marshall has teamed up with the Music Venue Trust (MVT) to roll out an initiative championing grassroots music – check out all the details below.
In collaboration with MVT, Marshall is set to deliver a nationwide series of more than 20 gigs. Dubbed Marshall Nights, each will shine a spotlight on emerging talent, with the tour featuring over 60 rising artists.
In a bid to support emerging talent as well as the local scenes that support them, performances held at grassroots venues across the country will kick off at Brighton’s Green Door Store, and hit Cardiff’s Fuel, Glasgow’s Rum Shack and Sheffield’s Yellow Arch.
The move builds on Marshall’s history of protecting grassroots music. As highlighted in a press release, Marshall co-founder Terry Marshall and his wife Leslie personally donated £100,000 to support MVT’s ‘Own Our Venues’ campaign, itself an effort to protect local music spaces by bringing them into community ownership.
That year, Marshall also supplied backline equipment to more than 20 grassroots music venues.
Speaking about the Marshall Nights, Denzil Thomas, partnerships manager at MVT, said: “Grassroots Music Venues are the lifeblood of the UK’s music ecosystem, they are where artists take their first steps, and where fans fall in love with live music.
“We’re proud to partner with Marshall, a brand that embodies the sound and spirit of live performance, to keep these vital spaces alive.”
Kevin Penney, Marketing Director at Marshall EMEA went on to add: “Marshall was born from the live stage, and that’s where we belong. Grassroots venues are where every great band starts, and we’re proud to help keep those stages alive for the next generation of artists and fans.
“This isn’t just about sound, it’s about community, creativity, and giving back to the music that made us.”
As well as the live shows, Marshall and MVT will collaborate on a series of live sessions, interviews, and behind-the-scenes content which is set to spotlight the artists, venues, and communities that make up the heart of UK music communities.
For more information about the initiative, you can visit here and here.
The push for change across the industry comes as 2023 proved to be “disastrous” and the worst year on record, with 125 grassroots music venues shutting their doors. At the beginning of the year, it was also reported that 70.6 per cent of independent UK acts have never toured, while 84 per cent of unsigned artists simply can’t afford to.
Back in July, historic venue The Royal Albert Hall became the first 5,000+ capacity arena to commit to the levy – which sees £1 from every ticket sold invested back into the UK’s live music scene and helps smaller venues keep their doors open.
A £1 ticket contribution will now be added to all commercial rock and pop concerts at the Hall. This will raise an estimated £300,000 per annum for the LIVE Trust.
A recent Music Fans’ Voice survey showed that 93 per cent of fans agreed that £1 from every arena and stadium ticket should be donated to support the grassroots, and last spring, a government committee of UK MPs joined the call for a levy on arena and stadium gigs – as well as a cut in VAT.
In December, they pushed for concrete measures to be put in place by the end of 2025, and said that if venues do not volunteer to invest back into the grassroots spaces, the government will take action.
Huge names who have been supportive of a £1 ticket levy include Coldplay, Sam Fender and Katy Perry – who have all vowed to donate a portion of their tour revenues to support the grassroots sector.
In May, Wolf Alice‘s Joff Oddie also joined industry leaders at a government hearing and insisted that not enough progress was being made in saving venues and new artists. Then, the month prior, it was reported that UK tour ticket contributions have raised £500,000 for grassroots music venues thanks to artists like Pulp and Mumford & Sons.
