28 fleurets.com What are you predictions for the industry going forwards? That grassroots music venues will win. Because it is in these venues that the real enthusiasm and passion for music still beats strongest. What is your role/company? I’m the CEO and founder of the Music Venue Trust, a registered charity which acts to protect, secure and improve grassroots music venues in the UK. I have been working in the live music industry for 36 years. What changes have you witnessed in this time? That’s a small question with a massive answer. The entire structure of the music industry has changed, having massive impact on the sustainability and profitability of grassroots venues. One example is the removal of tour support budgets by major labels, a result of the downturn in business provoked by online piracy and streaming, which started in 2004. This had a huge impact on grassroots touring artists, which these venues have been asked to pick up. Subsequently, emerging artists are struggling to make tours work. That’s just one example, there are dozens and dozens more - the explosion in upper level ticket prices and the complete standstill in grassroots ticket prices, I could go on for quite a long time. MARK DAVYD Q&A What are the biggest threats facing the industry? That, thinking about all the challenges, we sit still and hope someone else will sort it out for us. The outcome of that approach is that we continue to haemorrhage grassroots music venues at an alarming rate. If new artists don’t have a stage they can walk on to for their first gig, we don’t have future festival headliners. We need to align the whole music industry behind this basic concept. Every one of us has a stake in the success and sustainability of our grassroots music venues. We need to act on that stake, not permit those venues to fail through inaction.