The UK autumn budget: Music industry reacts with venues and nightclubs at risk
Live music representatives from across the board have expressed their frustration following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ announcement that business rate relief for grassroots music venues has been cut.
Reeves revealed in the UK autumn budget speech today (October 30) that business rate relief for grassroots music venues will go down from 75 per cent to 40 per cent beginning April 1 2025.
In her speech, she mentions: “I will today provide 40 per cent relief on business rates for the retail, hospitality and leisure industry in 2025-26, up to a cap of £110,000 per business.” However, many point out that this phrasing leaves out the fact that it’s a notable drop from the current 75 per cent business rate relief offered by the government.
It received an immediate response from the Music Venue Trust (MVT), whose CEO Mark Davyd states in a press release that the immediate impact of the new relief reduction will see £7million in new premises taxes placed over 350 grassroots music venues – putting them at immediate risk of closure.
The MVT highlighted that the new taxes placed on the grassroots venuses will lead to the potential loss of over 12,000 jobs, more than £250 million in economic activity and the loss of over 75,000 live music events.
“Changes in April 2026 are to be welcomed, but will be of no use for the hundreds of music venues that are now likely to be lost before this challenge is finally met with a full, long overdue reform,” the MVT statement reads. View their full statement here.
Watch Reeves deliver the 2024 Budget speech below (skip to 39:17 for the business rates relief address).
Last week, the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) found that UK clubbing could be “extinct” by the end of the decade, with new figures showing that 37 per cent of all clubs across the country have permanently shut since March 2020 – an average of three clubs a week and 150 per year. If the trend continues, all spaces in the UK will have closed their doors by December 31, 2029.
The NTIA also weighed in on today’s announcement, criticising the government and sharing that even though Reeves extended business rates relief for night-time economy businesses in the Autumn Budget by an additional two years at a reduced 40 per cent, the benefit is negated due to the tax hikes which threaten the sector’s financial stability.
NTIA CEO Michael Kill said in a press release: “We are in one of the toughest trading environments the UK has seen in decades for our sector, fraught with a legacy of challenges from previous crises.
“While the Chancellor has listened to our plight, the extended business rates relief is a minor concession amongst the array of tax increases and fiscal shifts, which will take some time to evaluate and consider regarding sector impacts. However, in simple terms, it is still double the contribution of the current business rates.”
The Association of Independent Music also discussed the Chancellor’s decisions, with Gee Davy, AIM’s interim CEO saying: “Much more support is needed to alleviate the pressures on already super-squeezed independent labels and related music businesses. These homegrown businesses are the beating heart of music – the principal investors in emerging artists and the UK music sector’s key employers, putting out 80 per cent of new releases and creating long-term sustainable creative careers.
“We urgently need a tax credit scheme for music creation, like that which has been so successful in supporting the UK film sector. This would drive growth in music communities across the length and breadth of the UK, keep options open for a diverse range of musicians, grow employment and investment in emerging music, and reinvigorate the UK’s position in the global music market.”
Caroline Norbury OBE, Chief Executive of Creative UK – the national network for the Cultural and Creative Industries – also responded to the budget, saying: “The cultural and creative sectors remain a main driving force behind the UK economy, delivering growth and social value while fuelling local communities, creating jobs, and showcasing the best of Britain to the world.
“We welcome the UK Government’s commitment to publishing a comprehensive sector plan for the cultural and creative industries, as part of Phase 2 of the Spending Review; and look forward to assurances from the Government that our sector will be stimulated to drive inclusive growth through a quantum of investment, alongside other high-growth areas.”
She also acknowledged the government’s recognition of “the significant potential of the cultural and creative industries and as it builds on the momentum set by the Industrial Strategy” but shared that their recognition needs to be translated into “strategic, meaningful action,” marking the beginning of a “long-term commitment from the UK Government to fully realise the economic and societal impact that culture and creativity can deliver, in partnership with the sector.”
“To truly unlock harness the cultural and creative industries’ potential contribution, it is essential that the UK Government heeds the Chancellor’s advice: ‘The only way to drive economic growth is to invest, invest, invest,” Norbury said.
She continued: “This means addressing the barriers to investment faced by so many cultural and creative organisations and inspiring more people to see the value of creative education and careers. Creativity isn’t not only a driver of prosperity, but opportunity to define who we are, our place in the world and how we innovate to transform lives. Now is the time to build a future where creativity is respected and embraced as central to our national identity and success.”
Last month, the NTIA revealed that of the 480 nightclubs that were closed between June 2020 to June 2024, 67 took place between December 2023 and June 2024.
Before then, the NTIA revealed that 31 per cent of nightclubs in the UK were forced to close last year, and in August 2023, the association shared that over 100 independent nightclubs across the UK were forced to shut their doors permanently over the past 12 months.
The issue expands beyond clubs too, as back in January, findings by the Music Venue Trust (MVT) discovered a “disaster” that hit grassroots music venues as a whole across 2023.
Among the key findings into their “most challenging year”, it was reported that last year saw 125 UK venues abandon live music and that over half of them had shut entirely – including the legendary Moles in Bath. Some of the more pressing constraints were reported as soaring energy prices, landlords increasing rate amounts, supply costs, business rates, licensing issues, noise complaints and the continuing shockwaves of COVID-19.
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Anagricel Duran
NME
