BATH, UK (CelebrityAccess) – One of the best-known and much-beloved grassroots music venues in the UK, Moles, has filed for insolvency. The venue opened in 1978 and has seen Blur, The Smiths, Oasis, The Cure, Radiohead, Ed Sheeran, The Killers and many more grace its stage over the years. The 220-capacity venue has closed its doors with immediate effect.
Moles’ co-owner Tom Maddicott stated that the rise in costs and overheads and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis have made it impossible to continue.
Making the decision to close Moles was horrendous, but the cost-of-living crisis has crippled us,” says co-owner Maddicott. “Massively increased costs of stock, utilities and rent compounded by our customers also feeling the impact of the crisis has made it impossible to continue. It’s obviously an incredibly difficult decision to have to take for our team, the staff, the local community, and the artists that, over the years, have created such an incredible history of music.
But the reality is that live music at the grassroots level is no longer economically viable, and we will not be the only grassroots music venue forced to close. There needs to be a major shake-up of the live industry with the big players supporting the grassroots where it all begins to secure that pipeline of talent.
Football gets it with the Premier League investing millions in the grassroots game each year to bring through new players. The music industry needs to do the same before the entire grassroots sector collapses.
Music Venue Trust (MVT) has been passionately campaigning for the wider live music industry to financially support the grassroots music sector, proposing that every ticket sold at an arena and stadium should make a £1 contribution to its Pipeline Investment Fund, which was launched to help venues like Moles continue to survive and thrive.
Artist Enter Shikari, promoters Cuffe & Taylor, venues (Piece Hall / Swansea Arena), and ticketing companies Ticketmaster, Skiddle, and Good Show have all pledged support recently. However, MVT wants to see the larger music industry do more – as it has been sluggish in taking action thus far.
Mark Davyd, CEO and Founder of MVT, said:
“Today is a very sad day for our sector. Grassroots Music Venues like Moles – one of the best-loved and most efficiently run venues in the country for almost 45 years – have done everything they can to keep afloat, investing every penny they can into trying to fulfill their commitment to live music.
“Venues like these all over the country are going out of business while helping nurture the artists that will go on to generate millions for the broader music industry. Put bluntly, they have been badly let down by those who profit from their efforts. Unless it gets serious about its responsibilities to encourage, nurture and develop the grassroots live sector, the music industry as a whole will face a catastrophic failure of artist development.
“In France, all major live music events must pay 3.5% of each ticket sale into a fund to support grassroots artists and venues. We have today written to the government and to opposition parties to insist that, if the music industry does not act voluntarily, a compulsory levy on every ticket sold for every live music event above 5,000 capacity that takes place in the UK must be introduced by legislation to prevent the devastation of the sector.”
