A music venue in Belfast has received a grant from the charity Music Venue Trust to transform its production system.
Black Box received £4,200 from MVT’s Pipeline Investment Fund as part of a third round of recipients for its major new funding initiative, which provides grants of up to £5,000 for UK Grassroots Music Venues.
The Pipeline Investment Fund was established in 2022 with the support of members of the Music Venues Alliance and was primarily funded by donations from ticket sales of MVT’s recent ‘Revive Live’ programme of gigs around the UK, which was a partnership with The National Lottery.
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Black Box is set to use the grant to pay for two new top speakers to improve production and sound quality and to replace its ageing system.
A representative from Black Box said: “As an organisation, we host over 1,500 artists of all disciplines per year who perform to an annual audience of approx. 67,000 people and it has become a necessity for the Black Box to update it’s no longer fit for purpose equipment. This funding is hugely important to the Black Box. The Pipeline investment Fund will help us greatly on the way towards updating our venue’s sound equipment, giving a better sound quality for our artists and performers (and significantly less headaches for our production engineers!)”
Small-scale grant applications (up to £5,000) were invited from UK-based Grassroots Music Venues to support two key areas of work - small-scale capital projects including lights, sound, access, ventilation and minor building alteration and staff and training for workforce diversification, succession planning, skills development and strengthening local community ties.
The inaugural round of payments in December 2022 saw 11 Grassroots Music Venues receive £40,000, and a further 14 were awarded almost £70,000 in January. This is the third round of payments and sees a total sum of £55,203 awarded to GMVs across the country.
Last month, Music Venue Trust released their 2022 Annual Report, which was launched at a reception for MPs at The House of Commons. The report details the immense contribution of Grassroots Music Venues to the UK economy, and the current threat they face as a result of the cost-of-living crisis and ongoing post-covid recovery.
MVT is calling on the government to review the VAT on ticket sales that is currently limiting profitability and crushing a sector responsible for nurturing new, upcoming talent in the UK – talent that goes on to define British culture and create huge profits for the industry.
Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust said: “The Pipeline Investment Fund proves what we have been saying for some time - small amounts of money, sensibly invested, can make a real difference to grassroots music venues. This fund is essential for artists and audiences, improving the places they love and ensuring that they are keeping up to date with the latest equipment, training, access and sustainability opportunities. We hope the industry will seize the opportunity to get involved"
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