London’s O2 Arena announces funding for popular UK concert venue | music

London’s O2 Arena, the UK’s second-largest indoor concert venue, has announced that it will donate a portion of its concert proceeds to popular concert venues across the country.

The 20,000-capacity venue has partnered with the charity Music Venue Trust (MVT), which has been lobbying artists and arena operators to support venues that often provide a space for musicians to hone their craft, before they reach arena-level popularity.

Exact financial terms have not been announced, but in addition to the six-figure donation to MVT, the O2 will make further donations every time a new artist plays at the venue over the next three years. There were more than 50 such artists this year, including veteran bands like Pulp and Architects and newer pop acts like Gracie Abrams.

The O2 announcement was announced by Ben Lovett, multi-instrumentalist with Mumford & Sons, who performed at the O2 this week; Lovett is also an entrepreneur whose company TVG has opened concert venues in cities including London, Los Angeles and Huntsville, Alabama, and he has donated separately to MVT.

“We think it’s great that a place like the O2 is making a meaningful donation,” he said. “To contribute, as we all should, to a more sustainable ecosystem within live music in the future.”

He pointed back to Mumford & Sons’ first headline O2 gig in 2012, “when many of the venues where we cut our teeth, including the Luminaire in Kilburn where we played our first headline show, started to close. And that trend has only continued, in London and across the country.”

More than 150 popular venues have closed in the UK since 2023. Factors affecting these venues include the cost of facilities, the ongoing recovery from Covid losses, and a further loss of revenue due to the cost of living crisis, which has resulted in fewer gigs among the public.

“Every artist who headlines O2 for the first time reflects the strength of that grassroots network… We are investing in a pipeline that nurtures the next generation of outstanding artists and ensures they have a place to start,” said Emma Bownes, senior vice president of venue programming at O2 Arena parent company AEG Europe.

The MVT has called for a £1 levy on tickets at venues with a capacity of more than 5,000, to be covered by artists and venue operators, and put back to support popular venues. Sam Fender is among the artists supporting the charity, having donated £100,000 from his 2024 arena tour, then donating the £25,000 prize money from his Mercury Prize win this year.

MVT is also using its Music Venue Properties scheme to bring some UK venues into community ownership, with members of the public contributing funds and receiving a return on their investment.

The charity’s chairman, Mark David, said the O2 funding was “hugely important and welcome”.

Its official capacity may be 20,000, but last month Radiohead broke the record for the highest attendance at an O2 concert, with 22,355 – thanks to a relatively small stage located in the middle of the arena floor.