Grassroots music venues in the UK are in crisis. Ahead of this year’s Independent Venue Week, I spoke to the Ramsgate Music Hall’s André Dack and Sammy Clarke of Margate’s Where Else on the existential threat facing hundreds of independent music venues in the UK for Strange Tourist.

An array of colliding factors have seen more than a third forced to shut their doors permanently in recent years.

Last week the Music Venue Trust, the charity that supports the grassroots venue sector, published its annual report. It states that in 2024, nearly a quarter of its 810 member venues required its assistance to avoid permanent closure.

A total of 86 did close or cease acting as music venues last year. That’s an improvement on 2023, when an average of two a week went out of business, but still a shocking figure. And with nearly 45% of venues reporting that they are running at a loss - an increase on 2023 - the situation remains precarious.

Rising costs, shrinking profit margins, people less able to afford to buy tickets, and bands struggling to cover travel costs are just some of the issues.

In Thanet, there is a vibrant music scene, with several venues of differing sizes, festivals like Broadstairs Folk Week, and a huge number of talented musicians living among us. However, that doesn’t mean the risks are any less than elsewhere around the country.

The key issue facing live music right now, says Sammy Clarke, owner of Margate venue Where Else, is the cost of living crisis because “it affects absolutely everybody”.

“Ticket buyers, musicians, the whole chain is affected,” he says. “It just impacts all of our livelihoods, and our spending choices.”

André Dack, who runs Ramsgate Music Hall agrees. “It's just extraordinary and I'm not entirely sure how any of us are supposed to survive,” he says. “When your energy bill has tripled, you can't suddenly counter that by drastically increasing ticket and bar prices.”

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