"LIVE Trust has shown outstanding leadership, and has already distributed £1.5 million to vital initiatives"

It's been a busy week for LIVE Trust to say the least.

Not only did we announce Phase Two of our funding, which will distribute an additional £1 million on top of our £500,000 Phase One funding to ten deserving programmes, we were also recognised for our work in Government's Music Plan.

We're unbelievably proud of what LIVE Trust has achieved so far, and to be recognised at this level and to be able to share our proudest achievement yet in the form of Phase Two – all in the space of a week! - is cause for celebration.

Live music is a source of community for so many - often built around a brilliant local venue or festival. It's the livelihood of crews, bookers and promoters to name just a few. It's the way fans connect with the artists who inspire them and a vital way those artists can make a name for themselves to begin with.

£1 million is a fitting number; there's a million reasons why live music matters, and the tireless work that every person behind the programmes we're funding does – relentlessly persisting to make our industry a better place despite all the challenges – truly makes them one in a million.

LIVE Trust in the press

We've been blown away by the positive response to our Phase Two announcement.

The BBC interviewed Gus Unger-Hamilton of Alt-J (also the director of LIVE member Featured Artists Coalition) on the positive impact of LIVE Trust's Phase 2 funding:

"It's really fantastic that now artists playing these big gigs are able to support the grassroots, which is where they all came from. It makes the ecosystem much more healthy."
— Gus Unger-Hamilton

They also spoke to one of the beneficiaries of our Phase One funding, singer Jim Ghedi, who shared the impact the funding had on him and his career:

"This funding has had a huge impact. It enabled me to take the full band out with me [...] and cover accommodation and travel costs without me having to lose a significant amount of money. It also enabled me to do two gigs in Cornwall which wouldn't have really been possible without this funding, due to travel costs making that unviable."
— Jim Ghedi

The power of the pound was also covered in a recent feature by Far Out magazine with a powerful quote from David Martin, CEO of Featured Artists Coalition:

"The opportunity presented by the Live Trust is genuinely groundbreaking. It gives the industry a chance to create a long-term solution that benefits artists, promoters, venues and audiences alike."
— David Martin

CEO of LIVE, Jon Collins, said in Far Out magazine that:

"The industry has shown in just one year that the Live Trust £1 contribution initiative can have a massive, real-world impact. We need to now keep up the momentum and grow the number of pledges each year to maximise the impact we can have."
— Jon Collins

Here's some of the other coverage we've received in the press this week.

Coverage

The Ticketing Business
LIVE Trust announces £1m funding boost to UK grassroots live music
Read more

BBC News
Ed Sheeran inspires government-backed 'music in libraries' scheme
Read more

Arts Professional
LIVE Trust announces £1m for grassroots venues in wake of DCMS music boost
Read more

Access All Areas
LIVE Trust to distribute £1m to grassroots live events sector
Read more

Complete Music Update
UK government publishes 'Our Plan For Music' - and announces new funding and licensing reforms
Read more

Music Week
LIVE Trust reveals £1 million funding boost for UK grassroots live music
Read more

The recipients

Who's receiving our £1 million Phase Two funding?

Phase Two doubles the funding distributed through LIVE Trust's first round, continuing support for four key Phase One programmes and supporting six new programmes.

Ready to meet the worthy recipients who are one in £1 million?

Phase Two funding recipients

Association of Independent Festivals' Festival MOT Programme, which is a diagnostic service for independent music festivals in crisis. The festival MOT will provide a report, resources and support for festivals across the UK.

Association of Independent Promoters' Independent Promoters Grassroots Bursary Scheme, which empowers new and emerging promoters to deliver events, strengthening the live music pipeline, and increasing diversity, accessibility, and innovation in promoting.

Featured Artists Coalition, Musicians' Union, and Music Managers Forum's UK Artist Touring Fund, will be expanding their programme, to provide more tour support to artists, helping make live shows and touring financially viable and inclusive.

Music venue support through Music Venue Trust which delivers several programmes that stabilise grassroots music venues, prevent closures, reduce urgent financial pressures, and lay the groundwork for longer-term recovery.

Youth Music's Industry Connect programme, which gives young people the skills, training and experience to help them establish live music industry careers.

Help Musicians' Fast Track Award and Career Clinics, which support early career artists to embed live performance as an enabler for long-term career growth and sustainability for early career and working musicians.

Anthem Wales' Anthem Live, which is a connected programme of youth-led live music showcases delivered in partnership with grassroots venues and organisations across Wales.

Black Lives in Music's LIVE Pathways, which is a 12-month pilot that supports people coming through the live music pipeline, addressing the current inequality of opportunity for Black, Asian and Ethnically Diverse people in the music industry.

Back-up Tech, which is supporting industry technical professionals, crew and production personnel, and people working in the technical supply chain.

Attitude is Everything, which will launch guidance and an accessibility framework, enabling practical improvements around accessibility to grassroots and community music.

Looking back on Phase One – the impact, in numbers

We're thoroughly looking forward to seeing how the programmes we're supporting will maximise the impact of their funding – we're positive they'll continue to build upon the excellent work and achievements to date that have so impressed our Board of Trustees.

With that in mind, what better time to reflect upon the impact of our Phase One funding?

Earlier this year, LIVE Trust distributed £500,000 through its Phase One programme to support artists, venues, festivals, promoters and others across the live music industry.

That funding helped...

372 venues　　211 shows　　81 festivals

A word from our Chair and CEO

Kirsty McShannon, Chair of LIVE Trust, said: "In just over a year, LIVE Trust has shown what the live music industry can achieve when it works together. We set out to create a long-term way of supporting grassroots live music and the response has been overwhelming. Every artist, promoter, venue and festival that contributes helps secure the future of live music across the UK."

Jon Collins, CEO of LIVE Trust, said: "LIVE Trust is already proving that money raised by the industry can be distributed quickly and effectively. Phase Two enables us to build on that success by continuing to support core programmes while working with new ones to deliver targeted support for those facing additional barriers. We are incredibly excited about the opportunities ahead, and I would like to thank every promoter, manager, venue, agent and artist who has stepped forward to support this vital work."

Thank you for funding LIVE Trust

Our funding comes from a voluntary £1 contribution added to tickets for shows with a capacity of 5,000 or more.

Since launching in January 2025, LIVE Trust has secured more than 6 million ticket pledges, working with 10 promoters across more than 100 tours.

Some of the tours that have recently donated to LIVE Trust include huge names, from Harry Styles' Together Together tour to the Lily Allen Performs West End Girl tour.

We'd like to say a huge THANK YOU to every tour that has supported LIVE Trust by adopting our £1 pledge. It just goes to show – a little really does go a long way.