Featured Image: Mark Davyd/Wolfgang
Ahead of TheTicketingBusiness Forum next month, we spoke to Music Venue Trust chief executive and founder, Mark Davyd.
Prior to establishing the charity dedicated to protecting grassroots music venues, Davyd founded the Tunbridge Wells Forum in the early 1990s.
In this latest Q&A, Davyd discusses the current challenges facing the grassroots music venue sector in the UK.
What have you been focused on/working on in last six months?
It’s been a very difficult time for the grassroots music venue sector, but we can see solutions and are determined to deliver them. A lot of our time is being taken up by the CMS Select Committee inquiry into the challenges facing the sector, which is due to report in April. This has the potential to be a landmark report arriving at a very significant moment just prior to the election.
What are your expectations and wishes for 2024?
We think 2024 is a key year to start the overdue process of long term change for the grassroots music venue sector. We have to find a way to recognise the research and development work being done by these venues which impacts on every single person working in our industry. Our wish is that we can do that collaboratively, working together to create the best outcome that we all have a stake in. Our expectation is that in the event we cannot achieve that we made end up being regulated to ensure a mandated process that delivers that outcome.
What’s the next challenge for you and your team?
Get that piece of work over the line, then look at exactly how we invest to secure a permanent and sustainable future for the sector.
What are you evaluating for future adoption?
We are doing a lot of work with partners from right across the industry to look at how we can minimise costs and maximise income for grassroots music venues, particularly by looking at collective bargaining and using shared need or opportunity to create partnerships for multiple venues. We have over 800 venues in the Music Venues Alliance, and so far the potential to negotiate collectively has been significantly under used.
What’s exciting in ticketing/entertainment eCommerce right now?
The growth in opportunities to develop meaningful and sustainable relationships with customers driven by more and better data.
Explore the future of ticketing with Mark Davyd and hundreds of industry leaders at #TBF24 at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, from April 16-17. BOOK TODAY.
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