It is easy to get distracted by the spectacle of arena gigs: the bright lights, the confetti, the fireworks and big-name artists like Harry Styles. We forget that many of our favourite artists would not have this opportunity if it weren’t for grassroots venues and, right now, they are under serious pressure.
In 2024, the Music Venue Trust reported the loss of 78 trading Grassroots music venues across the UK, with over half of them blaming financial pressure. By 2025, over half of remaining venues reported making no profit at all. Rising national insurance payments and energy bills are sinking our local venues.
Money isn’t the only problem that venues are facing, however.
Since October 2025, the Scottish Government has been planning new laws that could make things even harder, proposing changes would allow developers to convert commercial buildings into housing more easily. Given the number of homeless people in Scotland, this seems like a harmless idea initially, but what is not being considered is the existing music venues in these areas, who may be subject to new noise complaints from new neighbours as well as the financial burden of expensive soundproofing just to continue operating.
Thousands of artists walked through the doors of a grassroots venue before they even thought about arena tours. Lewis Capaldi, for example, is just one Scottish artist who wouldn’t be where he is without Scotland’s small venues; before he had his big break, Edinburgh’s Sneaky Pete’s was an important grassroots venue for the singer.
“Grassroots venues are a place where you can have a life-affirming or even life-changing experience for less than the price of a delivery pizza”.
Sneaky Pete’s is a 100–person capacity venue that has played a vital role in Scottish music since its opening in 2008. Nick Stewart, the current managing director of the venue and nightclub, highlighted the importance of such venues within society: “Grassroots music venues like Sneaky Pete’s are the research and development hubs of our music industry and the heart of Scotland’s music communities”.
Nick also highlighted the importance of grassroots venues in keeping live music accessible. With the average ticket price in the UK being less than £12, it is a far cry from increasingly expensive arena gigs. And with most of these venues being run without any national or local funding, they rely heavily on people buying tickets and turning up.
“Grassroots venues are a place where you can have a life-affirming or even life-changing experience for less than the price of a delivery pizza”.
He also declared that “the best way to support us is to come to a show”, encouraging people to “get a drink whilst you’re here”.
Grassroots venues are the place where artists learn, make mistakes and make a name for themselves. Everyone loves to be able to say, ‘I saw them before they were famous’, but this opportunity is slowly disappearing with each small venue that’s forced to close its doors.
If grassroots venues keep disappearing, we won’t just be losing a cool night out; the next wave of artists will lose the chance to even begin their career.
