The Future of Grass Roots Live Music Report
This research draws on interviews with 66 industry professionals from across the live music sector, shaping our innovation roadmap for grass roots live music in the UK.
Posted: 26 July 2026
Authors: Dr. Claude P. R. Heath with Prof. Polly Dalton, Dr. Hazel Dixon, Dr. Rosella Galindo Esparza, Prof. Adam Ganz, Dr. Darshana Jayemanne, Dr. Jung In Jung, Dr. Marusa Levstek, Prof. Mark Lycett, Dr. Lynn H.C. Love, Dr. Krisanee Meechao, Prof. Jen Parker- Starbuck, Dr. Alex Reppel, Prof. Peter Richardson, Prof. Will Saunders, Dr. Laryssa Whittaker, Dr Andy Woods.
Grassroots Music Venues (GMVs) have complex and far-reaching cultural value: they provide shared social experiences, offer emerging artists their first opportunities, and stimulate local economies.
We interviewed 66 live music industry contributors, asking them: How do you value live performance? Why do you work in live music? How do you see the future of live music? We spoke to artists, agents, managers, promoters, and GMV owners and operators, making sure that we covered the widest possible range of attitudes to technology, from the tech-savvy to plug-and-play performers.
This report gives practical form to the Government’s recent policy statement in July 2026, ‘Turn it up: Our plan for music’, announcing the increase in the Music Growth Package: we show how grassroots venues, artists and creative technologists working in partnership with funders of R&D can turn national music policy into testable, place-based innovation.
It also features case studies from the Grassroots Music Venue R&D competition launched in partnership with the MusicFutures Creative Cluster in Liverpool and with the Music Venue Trust. The competition was informed by CoSTAR National Lab research into grassroots music during 2024-5.