By Christopher Taylor.
On 23rd March 2025, Ed Sheeran shared a letter in this Facebook post calling for the Labour Government to ‘repair decades of dismantling music’ through an increase of support for young musicians. His five-point proposal focuses on increasing music provision in schools through increased funding, more teachers, a better curriculum, and more opportunities for young musicians by way of performance venues and apprenticeships.
While the call for support for grassroots venues became a frequent part of discourse in 2020, championed most prominently by the Music Venue Trust, I’ve always felt like there was something missing. Sheeran’s proposal has nailed exactly what’s wrong: we’re trying to save grassroots venues without producing any artists to fill them.
When we think of grassroots venues, we think of iconic places like Southampton’s own Joiners Arms, which hosted massive mainstream acts like Ed Sheeran and Coldplay before they were famous, alongside countless other bands. The Labour Government put forth their findings around grassroots music support in November, with promising suggestions such as a levy on ticket sales of major venues which would be ‘paid forward’ to grassroots venues, crew, and artists. We’re beginning to see the results of this, with Pulp recently confirming they would add a £1 grassroots donation to their ticket fees.
Don’t get me wrong: I love these places. I would much rather go to a gig at The Joiners than an O2 Academy. However…
1) The Joiners has a capacity of around 200, which I think the majority of artists would consider ‘quite big, really’. Only bands firmly en route to ‘breaking through’ are playing larger venues on a regular basis.
2) The artists that ‘made their name’ in The Joiners were already touring acts. They started out playing shows in pubs and bars and garages, not 200 capacity venues.
You don’t just rock up to The Joiners and get a show. These days, even the majority of supporting bands at The Joiners have been together for 5-10+ years and have songs on Spotify and videos on YouTube (which can cost £500-£1,000 or more). The real grassroots (seed?) musicians are learning their instruments and playing dingy shows in the 40 person capacity backrooms of bars. What happens in a few years when the current musicians have moved on? Where are the opportunities for acts to grow enough to step up to that ‘grassroots’ stage? What was the point of saving these iconic grassroots venues if we’ve left the seeds to rot?
I’ve been in bands for most of my life, and even with that experience behind me, it’s a struggle to get gigs now. Pre-COVID, you could message a promoter and get a shot at a small club show; now you need connections. More often than not, if you see a show in the back room of a bar, the bands have organised it between themselves because they know each other. Many promoters putting on ‘local showcase’ type events disappeared in 2020. The alternative ‘dive bar’ venues closed, became restaurants, or were folded into larger chains. Bars stopped putting on gigs to give space for more seating or pool tables or tribute bands. I have no idea where the new generation of musicians would start.
Youth bands need small venues that will allow them to get started. They need promoters who will let them perform without professional recording or gear, alongside affordable opportunities to record music and film videos. They need support to reach a grassroots stage, let alone become a top 10 artist, and we need the infrastructure to support all of the people who make it happen: sound engineering, lighting, stage crew, venue management, promoters and so on. The live music support industry was decimated by COVID, perhaps even more so than musicians (who were at least able to play music at home), and I’m sure that’s had a knock-on effect on how many people will consider or be able to pursue a career in those areas.
As Sheeran suggests, though, it starts with education. It’s important that kids are given the chance to experience the joy of music while they’re at school, with easy access to instruments and like-minded people. They need spaces to perform where they can bring all their friends and parents to support them and feel what it’s like to play to an excited crowd, before they’re trying to win over a half-empty room of people who don’t care. They need a music curriculum which will equip them with the knowledge to persevere when they leave school, and for their peers to fill music technology and promotion roles. If they’re given those opportunities and experiences, music will forever be a positive part of their lives, whether it’s a career or a hobby. If they’re not, it’s likely they won’t pick up an instrument until they have a midlife crisis and find out their office colleague used to play drums 20 years ago.
I never planned to ‘make it’ in the music industry. It’s just my passion: something that makes me happy and fulfilled. It’s a way of making friends and connections when I move to a new place. It’s a way of discovering new music, and getting to share stages with bands I admire. And I firmly believe that every musician is valuable; every busker or pub musician or a support band can make someone’s day a bit better.
But for almost 10 years after I left school, I struggled to find a band. It can be the worst parts of applying for jobs and dating rolled into one. First: find a wanted ad, in the right area, playing the right genre, at the right skill level. Get in touch and see if they reply. Often you won’t hear back, or get ghosted, or decide it’s not going anywhere. Stage two: the first jam. Now you have to try to be sociable in an awkward group dynamic while concentrating on how to play your instrument. If you make it through without social or musical faux pas, you’ll spend the next few weeks finding out that their vision of what a band is might be very different to yours: they want to spend hundreds of pounds on merch and recordings without ever playing a gig, or they don’t turn up for practise, or they’re convinced this time next year they’ll be millionaires.
Say you’re lucky and find some good musicians with realistic aspirations. You get 5-6 songs ready and start thinking about gigs. But it’s such a struggle to find a show, and you’ve been together so long already, that the drummer gives up. Now you need to recruit someone new. It’s a long, frustrating learning experience. If you do finally get the chance to play live, you’ll often be playing to empty rooms, your phone full of ‘Sorry I couldn’t make it tonight.’
If I didn’t know that I loved being in bands – that I just needed to keep trying – I would’ve assumed it wasn’t for me.
This is why Sheeran’s letter struck such a chord with me (excuse the pun). I wouldn’t be in bands today if I hadn’t been allowed to pick up an instrument in my classical-focused school and my local Musician’s Trust’s rock group; without all the church halls, pubs, clubs, and promoters who gave their time to let teenagers perform; without all the rehearsal rooms that charged us the bare minimum while the older musicians who worked there told us we sounded great (I distinctly remember the excellent Ben Marwood serving us cups of tea while we massacred Iron Maiden, and only being charged £5 per hour). I made some of my best friends in that time, and learned the joy of playing in bands – and the very important skills of resolving creative differences – before I was subject to the stresses that ‘adult band life’ throws at you. Music education, youth groups, and supportive gigs for young people are so important and need to be protected.
Check out and share Ed’s letter and consider writing to your MP. Try to make it down to the next truly local show you see advertised. Share and support initiatives for young artists like Basingstoke Music Initiative at the Proteus Creation Space (which adds local youth bands to lineups with experienced bands), or bands like Carsick who have invited student bands from Totton College to support them at the Joiners.
If we don’t find ways to turn around the dire situation in schools and tiny venues, all the work that’s been done to save these iconic grassroots venues will have been worthless.
Do you have an opinion you’d like to share? Write to us at editor@in-common.co.uk
- In Common is not for profit. We rely on donations from readers to keep the site running. Could you help to support us for as little as 25p a week? Please help us to carry on offering independent grass roots media. Visit: https://www.patreon.com/incommonsoton