Asked by: Lewis Atkinson (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the introduction of a voluntary levy on stadium and arena live music tickets.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government has called for widespread adoption of the live music sector’s £1 voluntary ticket contribution to help safeguard the future of the grassroots music sector. We want to see the levy in place for as many stadium and arena shows in 2026 as possible, and we continue to urge major promoters, venues, and artists to step up.
The Government welcomes the commitment already made by many, and is encouraged to see that the LIVE Trust has already distributed over £500,000 in levy funding to industry programmes and is projected to receive a total of £10 million in 2026.
However, we want to see uptake increase further, and have consistently said that we are prepared to explore legislative options if required to ensure the sustainability of our world-leading live music industry.