Grassroots venues in the UK are dying. Every week, up and down the country, a different beloved venue closes its doors. With the rise of stadiums and music cities, grassroots venues can feel like an echo from a different era. However, they form the backbone of our music past and present. Maybe one day you will walk into Co-Op Live and feel the stories in its walls, but for now that history belongs to the grassroots. 

Given their competition, how can they possibly survive in the modern world, where everything must be bigger and more expensive? Established artists simply don’t play them when they tour, instead favouring large arenas in London or Manchester. But the key to saving these venues lies with them. The only way to save grassroots venues is support; no money means no shows, and no shows means no venues. If artists continue to choose huge stadiums and ignore the ones they began their journey in, then grassroots will keep going under.

Some of these big names are finding ways to work together to support the grassroots. Last year, a compilation album was released, collated by Opus Kink, featuring bands like Wunderhorse, Nova Twins and Lambirini Girls. The money raised went towards the Music Venue Trust, a charity dedicated to protecting the grassroots music scene. Creative ways of fundraising like this are vital, as they allow artists to support the venues that made them, even when small venues are no longer suitable. Wunderhorse, who got their start in local Cornish venues like The Cornish Bank, continuously showcase their support for the grassroots scene. Lead singer Jacob Slater recently joined Mutant Menace (who are definitely worth checking out)  on stage at Whiskers in Newquay to perform two covers. 

Another artist who is actively supporting the grassroots scene is everyone’s favourite Geordie: Sam Fender. He donated money from his stadium tour to the Music Venue Trust, which distributed £100,000 to 38 grassroots venues across the country, including Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff and Paper Dress Vintage in London. This is how big names can support smaller venues while still playing arenas. As Sam so rightly put it when talking to the Music Venue Trust in 2025:  “The grassroots circuit has been decimated over the last 10 years or so and the idea that money from shows in big venues supports the smaller venues, where it all starts for musicians like me, is just common sense”. 

The reasons for continuous support of these venues are unquestionable. The majority of today's big names, the ones that feature at the top of festival lineups, began their journeys in these small, underfunded venues. If you take the initial lineup for Glastonbury Festival in 2024, only 8 out of 96 artists started their journey outside of grassroots music venues. Grassroots venues curate talent, give artists opportunities to build their following from the ground up and to perfect their paths. If this talent pipeline is to be sustained, big names must start giving back to the venues that made them.