Manchester’s Co-Op Live agree to meet Music Venue Trust to discuss £1 ticket levy

nme.com:

BBC, Mark Davyd (CEO of the Music Venue Trust) said he was to meet with the Co-Op Live once the venue was up and running. The meeting comes amongst the furore with Co-Op Live’s executive director Gary Roden, who suggested some grassroots venues were “poorly run” whilst discussing the case for a £1 ticket levy to preserve them.Davyd later criticised Roden’s comments, pointing out the average age of the artists booked to play at the venue was 52: “The average length of time it takes for a British artist to be booked to headline the Coop Live Arena from the date of the release of their first album is 30 (THIRTY) years.

No British artist that started their career in the last decade is booked to headline the arena.”He continued: “They literally used the occasion of their opening day event to claim that grassroots music venues were all poorly run and that they won’t financially contribute to the ecosystem because they don’t need the acts it produces.” Roden has since resigned over the controversial comments.Now, Davyd will reportedly meet the Co-Op Live amidst the news that Billie Eilish added a £1 donation to an American charity in her ticket prices.

The star is due to perform four dates at Co-Op Live later in 2025.Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, Davyd said Eilish’s “excellent initiative” showed there is “leeway” in the price of tickets for major shows to include a donation to “go back into the live music ecosystem”. “This is an important piece of work, but we need to see it on every show the Co-op Live doing and every ticket they sell,” he added.Co-Op Live have faced mounting criticisms due to the multiple postponements of their opening shows.