Glasgow council backs arena and stadium ticket levy to support small venues

Glasgow councillors have backed the introduction of a new £1 levy on tickets for so-called “mega-gigs” in the city, with the proceeds going towards supporting small music venues.

• READ MORE: The case has been made for a £1 ticket levy on all arena gigs – for the survival of grassroots venues and artists

The Scottish Greens led the motion and claimed upcoming performances in the city – ranging from comedy shows, Kylie Minogue and WWE events – could raise £160,000 alone. It echoes an argument made by Bristol’s night-time economy advisor Carly Heath, who said a levy added onto tickets could generate up to £1million each year and would support music venues, events and music making.

Per BBC News, the levy would apply to tickets bought for shows at the OVO Hydro, the 14,300 cap venue which has played host to artists like Taylor Swift, Rod Stewart, Prince and Beyonce, and is projected to potentially raise hundreds of thousands of pounds each year.

The motion was passed with cross-party support at a meeting of the full council, and they will now look in more detail at how to implement it. The ticket levy news comes after a government committee of UK MPs joined the call for a levy on arena and stadium gigs – as well as a cut in VAT – to support struggling grassroots music venues and artists earlier this year.

Although in the spring, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee welcomed the UK government’s new backing of a levy on gigs at arena level and above to help save the grassroots music scene, they called for a clear deadline for the industry to take urgent action.

This month, a letter was published in response to the questions posed Committee, with Sir Chris Bryant MP – Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries – writing: “We want to see a voluntary levy on arena and stadium tickets come into effect as soon as possible for concerts in 2025.

“To meet this timeline, we want to see tangible progress across the music industry by the first quarter of 2025,” meaning that the music industry must make real progress by March.

As was pointed out in the letter, musicians like Coldplay, Sam Fender, Enter Shikari and Katy Perry have all independently vowed to donate “a proportion of their upcoming tour revenues to support the grassroots sector”.

Likewise, ASM Global Arenas announced on December 9 that they have joined forces with Music Venue Trust (MVT) to support grassroots venues across the country. The company, which is a leading producer of live entertainment experiences, has confirmed that it will be expanding its partnership with the MVT with all of its venues fundraising for the cause.

ASM Global first announced its commitment to the MVT back in 2023, and has so far taken numerous steps to help provide support to grassroots venues.

Organisers confirmed that leading venues including OVO Arena Wembley, AO Arena, First Direct Arena, P&J Live, Utilita Arena Newcastle and more will offer fans the opportunity to help provide support for smaller venues in the form of the option of donating to the cause, both inside the venues when attending an event, and when buying tickets via venue websites.

Visit here for more information on how to support the Music Venue Trust campaign.

The renewed effort to protect grassroots venues comes after 2023 proved to be “disastrous” and the worst year on record with 125 grassroots music venues shutting their doors – a rate of two per week.