Harry Styles Supports Grassroots Music: Donates £1 Per Ticket to LIVE Trust

This initiative aligns with LIVE’s levy system, ensuring that funds are reinvested into the UK’s live music ecosystem, providing crucial support to smaller venues struggling to stay afloat.

Styles joins a growing list of artists, including Coldplay, Sam Fender, Katy Perry, Pulp, and Mumford & Sons, who are actively supporting the levy.

The Music Venue Trust lauded the former One Direction singer's commitment, stating: “He’s the first artist this year to announce a major UK stadium tour with £1 from every ticket going to the LIVE Trust, directly supporting the UK’s grassroots venues.”

They emphasized the impact of such contributions: “That £1 might feel small. But when artists at the top level step up, it unlocks serious, long-term support for the base that holds the whole live music ecosystem together. This model works. And it’s growing.”

The Featured Artists Coalition echoed this sentiment: “By donating a portion of each ticket to the Live Trust, Harry is helping provide essential support for artists, promoters and venues navigating some of the toughest conditions the live sector has ever faced. By backing the LIVE Trust this way, artists are protecting the future pipeline by enabling programmes such as the FAC’s UK Artist Touring Fund (UKAT).”

Last year, London’s Royal Albert Hall became the first venue with a capacity of 5,000+ to commit to the £1 ticket levy, a move projected to generate £300,000 annually for the LIVE Trust.

This commitment arrives in the wake of the Music Venue Trust's recent annual report, revealing the closure of 30 grassroots venues in the UK between July 2024 and July 2025, with an additional 48 ceasing to operate as live music spaces.

The report also highlighted that a staggering 53.8% of grassroots venues reported no profit in the last 12 months, accompanied by a loss of over 6,000 jobs (19%) throughout the year.

Increased Employer National Insurance contributions were identified as a primary factor in job losses, compounded by the recent rise in business rates. In 2025, the grassroots sector effectively subsidized live music by £76.6 million, while larger shows at arena and stadium levels contributed a record-breaking £8 billion to the UK economy.

The Music Venue Trust insists that if voluntary industry contributions to the levy don't prove effective by June 2026, the government must legislate and enshrine the Grassroots Levy into law. CEO Mark Davyd believes this measure would be “justified”. He commended SJM, Kilimanjaro, and AEG for their contributions but criticized Live Nation's lack of participation.

"These companies are delivering,” he said. “Live Nation, you know, and the whole industry knows, you are not. If the voluntary levy fails, it will not be the fault of the companies who have already embraced it, or of Music Venue Trust, or of the government, or of any will to do it on behalf of individuals, artists, managers, agents, audiences or anyone else. It will be a direct consequence of the overwhelmingly dominant force in the arena and stadium market deciding not to deliver a voluntary levy. That’s your choice Live Nation and everyone in the industry hopes you make the right one.”

Addressing politicians, Davyd urged: “Stop mucking about. Stop making speeches that don’t actually move things forward. Just get things done. These are not radical demands. They are the minimum required for a sector this important."

He concluded: “People who say it cannot be done should get out of the way of the people doing it. Music Venue Trust is moving forward in 2026 and beyond. We are not asking if this can be done. We are doing it."

“The only remaining question, for everyone in this room and beyond, is whether you are going to do it with us.”