Published
Tue, Dec 5, 2023, 14:00
- In a statement, the grassroots spot blamed the decision on the cost-of-living crisis.
Legendary Bath venue Moles is closing after 45 years because of rising costs, among other factors.
The 220-capacity venue confirmed the news via social media earlier today, December 5th. It has filed for solvency and cancelled all future events with immediate effect.
"We've weathered many things over the years, including a fire and a pandemic in the last ten years alone, but this cost-of-living crisis has crippled the grassroots music sector," the team said in a statement. "Although that isn't the only problem, it has accentuated it. Huge rent rates, along with massively increased costs on everything from utilities to stock, are all factors. This has been compounded by our customers also feeling the impact of the crisis."
The statement also highlighted how the closure of small venues sits alongside "record profits" of arena events and called for "a major shake-up of the live music sector."
According to the Music Venues Trust (MVT), more than 120 venues have closed over the last year—around 15 percent of the live music sector. Speaking to MVT, Moles co-owner Tom Maddicott said it's inevitable that more small venues will be "forced to close" in this climate. The solution, he said, is for the major players to support independent venues in the same way that football's Premier League invests "in the grassroots game to bring in new players."
MVT chief Mark Davyd agreed. In France, for example, he said all major live music events are already required to pay 3.5 percent of ticket sales into a fund supporting grassroots artists. MVT has written to the UK government to "insist" that if the "music industry won't act voluntarily" then legislation must be introduced, making it obligatory to pay a "compulsory levy on every ticket sold" for events above 5,000 capacity.
Opened in 1978, Moles is considered one of the UK's most iconic small venues. Past guests include Radiohead, Oasis and Eurythmics, as well as more recent electronic acts such as Batu, DJ Storm and HAAi. We'll report more on this story as it evolves.
Read Moles's statement in full.
Correction, December 5th: A previous version of this article incorrectly quoted from Moles's statement.
Update, December 5th: This piece was updated with a quote from Music Venues Trust chief Mark Davyd.