UK's £1 Ticket Levy Turns 18 Months Old: £6 Million Pledged, But Grassroots Venues Still Struggling

The UK's Live Trust, a £1 ticket levy scheme approved by the government and launched in January 2025, applies to tickets for large venues and arena shows, with proceeds funneled directly into grassroots live music. Since launch, the scheme has distributed an initial £500,000 to more than 12 grassroots music organizations across the UK, with a further £6 million already pledged. Arena tours by Lorde, Florence and the Machine, Mumford and Sons, Olivia Dean and My Chemical Romance have all opted into the mechanism, making them key sources of funding.

How the levy works

The idea behind Live Trust is to tap the relatively resilient demand for big arena tours — which still sell out reliably — and redirect some of that revenue toward grassroots venues already under financial strain. The levy adds just £1 per ticket, aimed at audiences who were going to buy those tickets anyway rather than imposing a new surcharge on top.

Live Trust CEO Jon Collins, speaking to Far Out Magazine, stressed that the £1 is not passed on to fans as an extra charge — it's absorbed by promoters — correcting what he called one of the most common misconceptions about the scheme. He described it as a long-term commitment, with the fund expected to grow year over year as more tours and festivals sign on.

Optimistic numbers, harsh reality

Still, a 2025 annual report from Music Venue Trust — one of the levy's main beneficiaries — found that grassroots venues lost 6,000 jobs over the same period, with more than 53% of venues failing to break even. Rising cost of living, which has squeezed audiences' discretionary spending on entertainment, is seen as one of the underlying pressures.

Collins acknowledged that "no single measure can solve decades of accumulated structural pressure," but stressed that Live Trust was never meant to be a cure-all — rather, it represents the industry's long-term reinvestment in its own future. A second round of fund distribution is now in preparation.