100 new young female promoters – 100 new shows – 100 grassroots music venues
Music Venue Trust and Music Planet Live are delighted to announce a major new partnership to reinvigorate and diversify the grassroots music scene in the UK. Fightback: Grassroots Promoter is a £100,000 intervention aimed at young women who are passionate about live music and want to learn the skills to become an independent promoter.
FB: GP will make £100,000 in subsidy guarantees available to underwrite 100 Fightback fundraising shows at Grassroots Music Venues promoted by the next generation of young, female, independent promoters.
Under 25s who want to promote a show are often put off by the risk or the lack of information about who to speak to, how to get the best deal, or what connections they need. At the same time, Grassroots Music Venues are crying out for new young promoters with fresh ideas. Add into that mix, a lack of diversity in the music industry and it adds up to a series of barriers to young women taking up promoting and adding their unique voice and ideas to the grassroots scene.
MVT and MPL want to change all that with a specific initiative aimed at enabling 100 young female promoters to put on a show at their local Music Venues Alliance member Grassroots Music Venue. FB: GP offers a no-risk financial entry point for young women to take their first step in promoting or develop their promoting skills.
Beverley Whitrick of MVT says:
We want to make a big change to the independent promoter scene in the UK, enabling 100 young women to take a chance on promoting a show they believe in. With their support, we are not only going to raise money for Music Venue Trust, we are going to start the process of identifying the next wave of fantastic new independent promoters and tackle head-on diversity in this sector. There’s not enough female promoters working in grassroots music venues, and we’re going to change that.
MVT will supply a toolkit and contacts young women need to put on their show. Alongside this, the FB: GP scheme will match them with music industry experts with experience of every aspect of delivering a successful event who can mentor them through the process. The package of support includes:
● A Gig-In-A-Box – everything you need to know about how to book, manage and promote a show
● Support from your local Grassroots Music Venue and leading Independent Promoters and music industry professional acting as mentors
● Be part of a national campaign with your own local event – profits from your Fightback show directly help to keep venues open through the Emergency Response service.
Fightback Grassroots Promoter is a targeted initiative from Music Venue Trust and Music Planet Live that sits alongside MPL’s announcement of £1 Million of incentives and grants to support emerging UK promoters and artists. Music Planet Live will be funding artists, projects and live events up to £5k each across the UK. In addition to show sponsorship, the site is designed so artists, venues and promoters of all levels can use its service to increase exposure and following, create a new audience and generate income through various means.
We are happy to announce that Rock City (basement), Rescue Rooms, Thekla, Borderline, Oslo, Thousand Island & Bodega have all signed up to be host venues for this initiative.