New support for Scottish grassroots music venues

New support has been made available for grassroots music venues across Scotland through the Scottish Government’s Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund.

The £2.2m fund, which was announced by Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop on 10 July 2020, will be delivered through Creative Scotland.

The purpose of the fund is to provide grassroots live music venues, that were financially sustainable before Covid-19, with the funds to prevent permanent closure and help with sustainability.

Eligible venues should:

• Be permanent, indoor venues in Scotland in the grassroots sector (i.e. those working with new, developing, musical talent), which have a public audience
• Have a capacity of under 600. Applications from venues with capacities of up to 1,000 will be considered if a significant grassroots focus can be demonstrated.

Venues may apply for grants of between £5,000 and £50,000.

Online application forms will be available on the Creative Scotland website at 12 noon on Wednesday 26 August 2020.

Applications must be submitted by 12 noon on Thursday 3 September 2020.

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: “Grassroots venues are the heartbeat of Scotland’s music scene, and they have been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. We are all extremely keen to see grassroots venues reopen again but further work is needed to ensure this can be done in a safe and sustainable manner.

“This £2.2m funding will provide some much needed stability for grassroots venues over the coming months and I am determined to continue working with the sector on what further help we can provide. It’s a long road to recovery but hopefully this marks the beginning of a brighter future after the very recent dark times.”

Iain Munro, Chief Executive, Creative Scotland said: “In these extremely challenging times this fund will provide much needed emergency support to some of Scotland’s grassroots music venues.

“Grassroots live music venues are vital to Scotland’s music ecology, developing music and audiences as well as supporting talent development and, as Scotland looks to move forward from the Covid-19 crisis, grassroots venues will, when it is safe to do so, play a crucial role in bringing people of all backgrounds together to experience the joy of live music.”