The promoter behind the Isle of Wight Festival has criticised the plan for a £1 levy on arena and stadium tickets that would help support grassroots venues.
This week, it was announced that the Royal Albert Hall in London would become the first 5,000+ capacity arena to commit to the LIVE Trust’s £1 contribution supporting grassroots music across the UK.
From 1 October 2025, the price of tickets for commercial rock and pop concerts at the venue will include a £1 contribution, which will raise an estimated £300,000 per year for the LIVE Trust to support grassroots venues, promoters, festivals and artists.
The levy was proposed by the Music Venue Trust as a way of protecting the many small music venues around the UK – a vital platform for emerging artists – that are under threat of closure.
However, industry veteran Giddings – who has represented artists including The Police, Lady Gaga, The Corrs and Westlife, as well as promoting major tours by artists such as Madonna and The Rolling Stones – was dismissive of the venture, saying he believes it will not be of benefit to live music fans.
“I think the whole thing is bloody ludicrous,” he told The Independent. “The fact is, you sell a ticket when you’re a promoter, and it costs £15, £50, whatever. There’s a booking fee, and now they’re talking about an extra fee to go to small venues. But that’s not the [Royal Albert] Hall or the artist caring about small venues: that’s charging the general public. It’s costing them more money for a ticket.”
A recent Music Fans’ Voice survey showed that 93 per cent of fans agreed that £1 from every arena and stadium ticket should go to a fund that directly supports grassroots venues.
Meanwhile, data from LIVE revealed that 125 such venues were forced to shut down in 2023, while 78 festivals were cancelled the following year.
Tour dates have also seen a 50 per cent decline over the past three decades, as the regional grassroots system collapses. The typical tour circuit has halved in the past 30 years, from 22-date tours in 1994 to an average of just 11 dates last year.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. Terms apply.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. Terms apply.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
“It’s disgusting that [they’re] trying to make themselves look good when they’re not helping at all,” Giddings said of the venue scheme, while questioning how the funds from the levy would be distributed among the UK’s grassroots spots.
He said that instead, artists themselves should do more to support the venues they first played in as emerging acts: “If [bands] really care about small venues, they should go and play in small venues that helped them in their careers early on, and let the small venue keep all of the income. That’s what they should do.
“And that way, you give the money directly to the venue. You’re advertising the venue. It’s a good PR story for the group. Everybody benefits.”
Giddings, who was named Festival Promoter of the Year at the FestForums awards in February, continued: “Every artist in this country, band or single artist, has been through those small venues, and they’ve helped them in their career. That’s where they [train] and learn how to do it, and they should go back and help them directly.”
A number of artists have already pledged their support to the Music Venue Trust scheme, including pop band Coldplay, who are donating 10 per cent of their earnings from their 2025 tour to the organisation.
Their involvement came after the British metal band Enter Shikari donated £1 from every ticket sold for their OVO Wembley Arena show in February last year. US pop star Katy Perry, who played some of her first UK shows in small venues such as Water Rats and Scala, contributed £1 to the MVT from every ticket sold for the UK leg of her Lifetimes tour.
Responding to Giddings’s comments, Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, told The Independent: “Obviously I appreciate that John has not been as close to these extensive and protracted discussions about the necessity of a grassroots levy as some of his colleagues in the Concert Promoters Association or at Live Nation.
“That’s a shame, because all of the issues and potential objections John raises have been fully covered, debated, and collectively resolved. The whole live music industry is united behind delivering the grassroots levy, and the way that we have agreed to do that is that everyone – promoters, ticketing companies, venues, agents, managers and artists – will all play their part in delivering it.”
He added: “The lead taken by the Royal Albert Hall has been warmly welcomed right across the industry. It shows real leadership and it’s a very positive step in making the levy a reality. The grassroots levy that the whole industry has agreed to, and the leadership shown by the Royal Albert Hall in moving that concept forward, is the positive change we need.”
