Ticketmaster Makes $76,000 Donation To Music Venue Trust In The UK

Music Venue Trust (MVT), the UK charity representing hundreds of grassroots music venues (GMVs), welcomed a donation of over £60,000 ($76,000) from Ticketmaster.

The money comes from the optional fan donation ticket buyers choose when purchasing tickets through Ticketmaster, with Ticketmaster matching every pound donated.

That way £150,000 ($190,000) have been raised to support the future of live music at a grassroots level.

The funds go directly into MVT’s Pipeline Investment Fund, which supports UK based GMVs, artists and promoters. The fund was established in 2022 with the support of members of the Music Venues Alliance, and was initially funded by donations from ticket sales of MVT’s ‘Revive Live’ program of gigs around the UK, which was a partnership with The National Lottery.

Since its launch several other companies and organisations have run initiatives and made donations to the Pipeline Investment Fund, which has to date raised and allocated over £5 million ($6.3 million), including over £500,000 ($634,000) into GMV infrastructure.

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Andrew Parsons, managing director, Ticketmaster UK, said, “We have long been supporters of MVT’s work and proud to have helped raise £60K in 2024 through our annual MVT upsell where we match every pound donated by fans on our site. This brings our upsell total to £150K in just two years.

“This initiative is a big deal to us, and this year we’ve teamed up with some iconic spaces including Epic Studios, Hackney Church, Alfies, The Piano Bar, Soul Mama, and Y Plas nightclub, and we look forward to supporting them and other grassroots music venues long into the future.”

Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust, added, “We are very grateful to Ticketmaster and its customers for their support at a time when this type of initiative is very much needed. Their recognition that grassroots music venues are struggling badly just to keep the lights on without these types of donations and their efforts to do something about it is extremely welcome!”

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