The O2 has announced that it will be making a donation to the Music Venue Trust (MVT) every time a new artist headlines the arena.<\/p>\n
The new initiative is introduced as part of a wider, three-year commitment, and is designed to ensure that grassroots music spaces can remain open and continue to nurture artists in the early stages of their careers.<\/p>\n
It also comes as this year alone saw the iconic London venue host over 50 first-time performers, who have each advanced from the grassroots network and reached arena status. These have included Pulp<\/a>, Architects<\/a>, Wolf Alice<\/a> and Gracie Abrams<\/a>.<\/p>\n To kick off the new initiative, organisers at The O2 are making an initial six-figure donation to Music Venue Trust in celebration of the milestone, and hope that the single donation helps highlights the critical need for a sustainable pipeline in the UK.<\/p>\n \u201cThe O2 is proud to support the UK\u2019s live music ecosystem, starting with the small stages in local communities,\u201d said Emma Bownes, Senior Vice President, Venue Programming at AEG Europe. \u201cEvery artist who headlines The O2 for the first time reflects the strength of that grassroots network. By partnering with Music Venue Trust, we\u2019re investing in the pipeline that nurtures the next generation of breakthrough artists and ensures they have a place to start.<\/p>\n Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust agreed, adding: \u201cThis is a hugely significant and welcome move from The O2. The success of our arenas is directly connected to the health of the grassroots venues where so many of those headliners began their journey. This partnership sets a powerful new benchmark for the industry, proving that major venues can actively participate in securing the future of the talent pipeline.<\/p>\n \u201cOur challenge to every other arena in the UK is simple: The O2 has taken a lead, now it\u2019s your chance to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n Mumford & Sons<\/a>\u2019 Ben Lovett also shared how the folk band are wholeheartedly supportive of the incentive, and are proud to be playing two nights at the venue since the news was shared<\/p>\n \u201cOur first time taking to this iconic stage was in 2012, back when many of the venues where we had cut our teeth, including the Luminaire in Kilburn where we played our first headline show, had started closing down,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n \u201cThis trend has only continued, in London and across the country, and we have done everything we can to protect the essential grassroots scene; lobbying various sitting governments, trying to educate anyone who\u2019d listen to the fact that artists don\u2019t just arrive in these arenas from nowhere. We\u2019ve played countless shows in these smaller rooms ever since, encouraged our fans to support and actioned the \u00a31 per ticket levy on this current tour, generously supported by our audience.\u201d<\/p>\n Lovett also went on to share that he had \u201cpersonally invested into the Music Venue Properties initiative as well as continuing to support Music Venue Trust and a host of similar organisations over recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe couldn\u2019t care more about the essential work of small venues up and down the country and we think it\u2019s brilliant that a venue like The O2 is making a meaningful donation, tied to their \u2018first-time headliner\u2019 model to contribute, as we all should, towards a more sustainable ecosystem within live music in the future,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n The news of the MVT and O2 partnership comes as the past year has seen pressure mounting for the UK\u2019s arena and stadiums, to help ensure the survival of smaller venues. There is increasing pressure and government action being made to introduce a \u00a31 ticket levy<\/a> \u2013 where \u00a31 from every ticket sold gets invested back into the industry to help support grassroots spaces and rising talent. It is similar to the model seen in the Premier League of football, and is already in use in several countries across Europe.<\/p>\n Coldplay<\/a>, Enter Shikari<\/a>, Katy Perry<\/a>, and Sam Fender have all adopted a levy<\/a> of their own on their respective tours, and the moves come after 2023 proved to be the worst year on record, with 125 grassroots music venues shutting their doors<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last November, progress was seen as the Culture, Media and Sport Committee welcomed the UK government\u2019s backing<\/a> of the proposed ticket levy, and in April this year, figures showed that 93 per cent of fans were all in favour of the \u00a31 donations<\/a> and would be willing to get involved to help support the UK\u2019s live music ecosystem.<\/p>\n Later that month, it was reported that UK tour ticket contributions raised \u00a3500,000 for grassroots music venues, thanks to backing from the likes of Pulp and Mumford & Sons<\/a>.<\/p>\n That came as various artists chose to donate \u00a31 from every ticket sold to The Live Trust \u2013 a funding initiative from LIVE which was set up in the wake of last year\u2019s CMS Select Committee investigation into the state of the grassroots<\/a>. Pulp were the first act to <\/a>get involved, and were shortly followed by Mumford & Sons<\/a>, Diana Ross<\/a> and Hans Zimmer<\/a>.<\/p>\n In May, Wolf Alice<\/a>\u2018s Joff Oddie and various industry leaders appeared at a government hearing into the state of UK grassroots music, and shared why it was so vital to keep investing back into smaller venues and emerging artists<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big thing that I\u2019d like to communicate and get into your heads is that when my band Wolf Alice were doing the grassroots touring scene 12 years ago, it was unbelievably tight,\u201d Oddie said. \u201cFor years, it was a loss-leader \u2013 and that\u2019s typically how it goes. We would sleep on people\u2019s floors when we were outside of London [\u2026] So 12 years ago the numbers didn\u2019t stack up, and now it\u2019s unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c[There are] a huge amount of things that artists have to pay for in order to go out on the road. We just about made it work. I can honestly say, I\u2019m not sure how Wolf Alice would make it work today,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Jarvis](\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/NMEAR_NME-GLASTO-2025-PULP-LIVE-ANDY-FORD-17@2000x1270.jpg\")