YTL Arena Bristol has spoken out after arenas were criticised for not doing enough to protect grassroots music venues. A report released by Music Venue Trust (MVT) has highlighted the challenges in the grassroots music sector and calls on new arenas to invest in this £ 500 million area of the industry.
The charity, which represents almost 1,000 grassroots music venues across the UK, said venues reported an average profit margin of just 0.2 per cent. The report stated that audience numbers for grassroots music venues have dropped by 11 per cent since pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
MVT has "outlined plans to ensure all new arenas opening in the UK contribute to the security of the wider music eco-system by investing a percentage of every ticket they sell into the grassroots music eco-system", the report says. Bristol's YTL Arena is one of eight new arenas proposed to be built in the UK, set to open at the old Filton Airfield in late 2025 or early 2026 with a capacity of 19,000.
Read more: Bristol Arena opening date delayed again but it will be even bigger say YTL
Mark Dayvd, CEO of MVT, said: "We cannot go on building more and more arenas with no plan of how to fill the stages they create in five, ten or 20 years' time and without these new facilities playing their part in helping protect the grassroots eco-system. The threat is real: we need more from the music industry and we need it now, otherwise what is currently a crisis will soon become a terminal decline for venues, their staff, artists and audiences.”
Co-op Live in Manchester, set to be the largest indoor arena in the UK opening this year, was directly named in the report and has committed to invest £1 million annually into its foundation. Bristol's arena has also pledged its commitment but is yet to reveal the details of what it will entail.
A spokesperson for YTL Arena said: “Bristol is famous for its vibrant grassroots music scene, and we want to make sure that the opening of YTL Arena positively contributes to this. We have been developing a community strategy which includes initiatives to support up-and-coming, local artists, and we will be sharing more details of this closer to our opening date.”
Bristol's The Louisiana said, in response to the arena's statement, that it was the first it had heard of these plans. "[We have] been a GMV for 35 years. We've not had any consultation from YTL Arena Bristol," the venue said on Twitter.
Work is yet to begin on Bristol's new arena, with the pandemic blamed as the reason for the delays. YTL Arena chief executive Andrew Billingham recently said that all of the preparation work had been completed.
He said: "YTL is totally committed to opening Bristol’s first major indoor music arena and entertainment complex. We have been improving our design and have created the opportunity to increase the maximum capacity of the Arena from 17,000 to 19,000, with over 2,000 premium seats."
The report has been released in Independent Venue Week, an annual seven-day celebration of the UK's music and arts venues. The week sees hundreds of artists, promoters and record labels come together to put on a rich programme of events, including several shows in Bristol.
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