‘Cautious Resilience’ for venues entering 2026

The beginning of spring feels a natural time to take stock of our live music ecosystem.

Whilst winter never really diminishes the vibrancy and energy of Liverpool’s live music offer, the arrival of longer days and warmer weather bring a notably tactile change to the area. Beer gardens fill, al fresco diners spill out onto pavements and, as garden stages are revitalised and pub doors left open, music begins to weave its way through the constant and familiar sounds of our city.

In anticipation of this, a quick inventory count feels prudent, so how are we getting on?

Cautiously resilient is a phrase we might use here. Last year’s stock-take (in Spring 2025) recorded the loss of 36 live music-hosting venues, alongside the opening of 18 new premises in 2024. The subsequent 12 months has seen only 8 closures, and 11 new venue openings. Of the venues that opened or began live music programming since 2024, all bar one remain operational in 2026. This represents a marked improvement in overall venue retention and demonstrates Liverpool’s robustness in the face of an ever-challenging national picture. This positive news is tinged with some sadness however, as we mourn the loss of iconic and well-loved venues, the Zanzibar, on Seel Street and Leaf on Bold Street in late 2025.

The hole left in our cultural fabric by these individual closures should be cause for reflection enough; however, the Zanzibar’s closure also represents the loss of another Music Venue Alliance (MVA) site. MVA venues are members of the Music Venues Trust, the lobbying body most will be familiar with as a champion of grassroots music venues at a national and governmental level. MVA members therefore constitute a crucial grassroots network of venues spanning the UK, forming key wellsprings of creativity and support for up-and-coming musicians. The loss of the Zanzibar and fellow MVA-accredited venue The Caledonia last year therefore represents not just a loss for Liverpool, but a weakening of the grassroots in the UK, overall.

This is where “cautious resilience” becomes key. The Music Venue Trust’s 2025 annual report highlights that whilst 53% of grassroots venues failed to make a profit last year, there was a 13% increase in gig attendance, and venue closures have slowed to their lowest level since 2018.

Whilst venue operators struggle against structural weaknesses within the hospitality and live music sector; rising business costs, especially energy bills, tax burdens and a changing touring landscape, it is the activity of live music enthusiasts that bolsters the sector and ensures the lights stay on.

In light of these struggles, Liverpool City Council partnered with MVT late 2025 to provide financial support for sub-300 capacity venues through the Liverpool Grassroots Music Venues Support Programme

It is also perhaps no surprise that you can find examples of community-led music activism thriving in Liverpool. The movement of community staple Quarry [Q U A RR Y] from Love Lane to Hardman Street in the City Centre in the space that was once the famous The Magnet/Sink venue (pictured above), was supported by a heartening crowd funder, which raised close to £10,000. Queensway, a DJ community supporting female, non-binary and LGTBQIA+ electronic artists, secured funding to continue a wide roster of DJ workshop programmes throughout 2025, hosted in Commune, an independent creative focused venue based in the Fabric District, in the space formerly occupied by Melodic Distraction Radio.

It is easy to lament the shaky infrastructure on which so much of our live music is based, and we mustn’t turn away from the profound challenges that the sector faces. In this vein, we welcome the 15% business rate reduction on pubs and music venues and the breathing space this will allow. Top-down policy action remains a key focal point; we know that music does not happen in a vacuum, and the various contingencies and policy areas that must align for the successful maintenance of live music activity are important to monitor.

With this in mind, it is worth highlighting the Music Board’s Keep Music Venues Thriving upcoming event on 21st April, where event promoters and venue owners/workers can share their opinions and ideas on the key issues they face.

And for audiences, whilst turning out for a gig may feel like a simple witnessing someone else’s creativity, you remain an active participant in the support of these spaces. Keep coming out!

The vitality of audiences will be highlighted later this month on April 17^th as the DCMS/MVT Fan-Led Review of Live Music report is launched by Lord Brennan of Canton. Watch this space for key findings from this report.

[Jacob Simmons, Institute of Popular Music]