Live Nation Entertainment : Music Venue Trust and Ticketweb Launch Grassroots Venues Tickets Website

Music Venue Trust, in partnership with TicketWeb - a division of Live Nation Entertainment - today launch Grassroots Venues Tickets, a website and service for fans to find listings and tickets for grassroots music venues (GMVs) across the UK.

GrassrootsVenues.Tickets launches with 15 venues already signed up to a ticket deal which is specifically built to support Grassroots Music Venues across the UK and the work of Music Venue Trust to protect, secure and improve the network. Each ticket contains a direct donation to the venue, to sustain and improve, and to MVT, to support the national network and to fight for venues across the country. And the big news is: Tickets bought for shows in these venues through Grassroots Venues Tickets are the lowest priced ticket on the market for the customer.

Mark Davyd, CEO of MVT, said: 'We wanted to bring a ticket product and service into the market that was all about supporting the Grassroots Music Venues sector. There's been a lot of talk about ethical ticketing and the music industry's concerns about these venues. We wanted to work with a partner to develop a grassroots ticket that genuinely enables fans to know that what they are buying is directly supporting the venues they love that really need help. We're delighted to be working with TicketWeb to deliver just that product, and to be able to do it at no extra cost to the customer.'

Tickets bought through Grassroots Venues Tickets attract the lowest service charge on the market - just 5%. TicketWeb allocate a proportion of this ticket service charge to the Music Venue Trust to fund national and local campaigning to stop venue closures and improve music venues. Customers also make a fixed donation of 50p towards the maintenance and refurbishment of the venue, which is paid direct to the venue. The result is a lower priced ticket for the customer which is directly supporting Grassroots Music Venues. And it's not just the audiences and the venues that are winning, as Davyd explains:

'Alongside a great deal for fans and a major step forward in funding for venues, we also wanted Grassroots Venues Tickets to do something for writers and publishers. In our exclusive ticket offer to venues, MVT is going to be able to track, monitor and pay collection agencies such as PRS for Music on behalf of grassroots music venues, while filing great information that ensures grassroots writers and artists are getting paid when their work is performed. It removes a significant burden of work and responsibility from venues and is a real win for writers and artists at this level.'

Sam Isles, Managing Director of TicketWeb, said: 'Today we are proud to unveil grassrootsvenues.tickets alongside our partners MVT. Together we continue to work in the interests of GMVs around the UK. The launch of this site is a culmination of lots of work behind the scenes to ensure it empowers both independent venues, and music fans alike.'

This website comes off the back of last October's launch of TicketWeb Backline - a platform designed specifically with Music Venue Trust to empower independent venues and promoters. Backline acts as a client portal, giving small venues and promoters control and a complete solution to sell tickets through their own bespoke platforms directly to fans. Over 60 new clients have joined the Backline service since its launch, including Ramsgate Music Hall, The Brook, and London's Archspace just to name a few. TicketWeb, Ticketmaster's indie ticketing agency, have been announced as returning headline sponsor at Venues Day 2017. This partnership enables Music Venue Trust to offer free and discounted tickets to venue representatives from across the UK to the national networking event, taking place at Ministry of Sound, London on Tuesday 17 October.

Notes to Editors

Music Venue Trust

Music Venue Trust, founded in 2014, is a registered charity that seeks to protect, secure and improve the UK's network of small to medium scale, mostly independently run, grassroots music venues. We have a long-term plan to protect that live music network which includes, where necessary, taking into charitable ownership freehold properties so they can be removed from commercial pressures and leased back to passionate music professionals to continue their operation.

For further information please visit http://www.musicvenuetrust.com/

TicketWeb

TicketWeb, the clubs and small venues division of Ticketmaster, delivers the most powerful engine for connecting fans with live events. Designed for independent venues and event promoters, TicketWeb is the industry's best-in-class event ticketing, marketing and management solution for clubs. Retailing tickets nationally at www.ticketweb.co.uk , TicketWeb clients include concert venues, comedy clubs, festivals, nightclubs and theatres, artist fan clubs and VIP ticket companies. TicketWeb serves more than 3,000 venues, events and promoters with full ticketing and up-sell operations across the United Kingdom, Ireland, the United States and Canada. Find TicketWeb on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @ticketwebUK