Deep Roots But Not Enough Water: Why Grassroot Musicians are finding it so hard to grow when starting from the bottom
- charlottebeattie09
- Jan 23
- 8 min read
Bath Spa University Commercial Music students on the struggle to get noticed in the current cost of living crisis and changing audience attitudes towards the grassroots music industry
Written by Charlotte Beattie
“It’s difficult to find the will to carry on after playing shows and trying so hard for nearly 3 years and still nothing has happened” expressed Bath Spa University Commercial Music Student Brogan Ritchie, 21, with a sense of disheartenment in his words. “But you just have to keep on going”.
This is the battle of disappointment and motivation that grassroot musicians are facing in our current economic crisis and the downfall of grassroots music despite being the backbone of the UK’S £6.7 billion industry.
“It’s difficult to find the will to carry on after playing shows and trying so hard for nearly 3 years and still nothing has happened, but you just have to keep on going”
Brogan Ritchie- Commercial Music student at Bath Spa university
Brogan spoke to me about the hardships of being a grassroot musician in 2026. “The music industry is always up in the air- it’s never a stable foundation or a stable industry; you never know what’s going to happen.”
Brogan stressed the comparison between university arranged gigs and the student community compared to the lack of support from locals and general audiences. Whilst university ran events are swarming with students- the gigs further away from home and away from local support systems and friends remain spas with sometimes only a couple heads in the crowd.
“The music industry is always up in the air- it’s never a stable foundation or a stable industry; you never know what’s going to happen”
Brogan Ritchie- Commercial Music student at Bath Spa university
The impact of our economic crisis and the repercussions of COVID-19 on grassroots music:
Brogan mentioned the struggle to feel optimistic as a grassroot musician with the shift we have recently seen only focussing on the already established and successful musicians, headliners and the ones that are currently bringing in the big bucks.
The LIVE (Live Music Industry Venues & Entertainment) music report for 2023 stated that concert revenues jumped by 19% between 2019 and 2023 due to audience excitement for previously cancelled mainstream artist tours as a result of COVD-19. The report made it clear how grassroots are fighting harder than ever to compete with mainstream music due to “COVID’s repercussions on the music industry, how people perform and the live shows that musicians get their money from”, Brogan tells me. “People weren’t able to go out to the pubs as normal and now pubs don’t have locals come to play anymore, its mainly larger artists that support them.”
As put by our Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade Sir Chris Bryant in the 2023 GOV.UK press release- “Grassroots music venues are one of the UK’s most valuable and yet undervalued cultural assets.” This passionate feeling towards grassroots encouraged a voluntary ticket levy introduced in 2023 to support not only the musicians but the remaining 28,000 employed people in the grassroots music industry. Some mainstream artists are raising money from this levy like Sam Fender who wouldn’t be thriving without the grassroots industry. Sam Fender emerged as a young working-class guy from North Shields, England who rose to fame the traditional way by grassroots gigging. However, it is still important for grassroot musicians like Brogan who would like to see a shift in audience attitude because “it’s not how it used to be” as people “would rather stay at home than go out and spend more money”.
The Rapid Closure of Grassroot Venues:
In 2023, the Music Venue’s Trusts saw the closing of 120 grassroot venues (15%) resulting in a major loss of 4,000 jobs and £9 million in income for musicians. For smaller musicians like CM [Commercial Music] students, these stats are symbolic of the opportunities for their future falling to the fate of the cost-of-living crisis and the minimal survival of venues post COVID-19. Brogan touched on this as “the less tickets you sell, the more money the venue gets but that’s how the venues need to run to stay alive”.
Brogan was lucky enough to perform at Moles in Bath- a magical venue that saw the emergence of artists like Oasis, Ed Sheeran and Radiohead, which closed in his first year of university in 2023 after 45 memorable years. Brogan expressed that “Moles was a different kind of venue; it just got people going because it was a historical venue”. Moles was one of the only remaining grassroot venues that still “had its own locals that would come every night” no matter whether they recognised the band on the poster.
Unfortunately, we don’t see many venues like Moles anymore. The smaller music venues that remain were only making 0.2% of profit on sales as of 2022- making minimal impact on the industry. This leaves grassroot musicians with venues that are run down and nearly empty at gigs because there simply isn’t money accessible to host a good show on top of the venue being clean, in a good location, and with enough staff for successful online promotion.
“The less tickets you sell, the more money the venue gets but that’s how the venues need to run to stay alive”
Brogan Ritchie- Commercial Music student at Bath Spa university
Brogan spoke to me about his last gig of 2025, playing in Wales- which was an hour away from where he usually plays in Bath. “It was fun to play there for the first time, but no one showed up” except for me and the fellow bands in the lineup for the night. His only positive takeaways were that it’s always good practice especially to risk trying new things when there isn’t a large enough crowd and he expressed how he “at least gave a good show to the bartender” who congratulated him after the gig.
Despite the 20 times the venue posted about the gig on their socials- there was clearly a lack of community in the area to show support for the pub, even just for a drink. The 2023 Music Report revealed that this was because 10% of the UK population do not actively think about going to gigs, 36% thought that audiences had forgotten how to behave in a crowd and 16% said they had less disposable income than before.
Becoming a successful musician has never been an easy path to go down but for grassroot musicians in 2026 it is harder than ever before and there are many more feeling disheartened like Brogan. It’s very up and down- you can have one successful gig and then 5 where no one shows up which puts a heavy mental strain on grassroots to persevere. But the struggle doesn’t end there- is it possible to make a living? Let me just put it to you straight- it’s impossible as a grassroot musician.
Making a living as a grassroots musician:
Brogan said that “you have to be a musician and something else to be a musician”- it’s necessary to “get a part time job or something so I can still make money” alongside music unless someone important notices you or your social media goes viral. With uncertainty, Brogan expressed that “I can’t really say what my future is going to look like because I’m not sure what’s happening with the music industry”.
Releasing music and streaming is necessary to grow your following but for making a living it is very hard for grassroots- especially since Spotify pays artists between $0.003 - $0.005 per stream on average. From Brogan’s experience with streaming for his ‘Daydream’ EP he says that “you would have to let your stream money accumulate over a long period of time unless you get millions of streams- so artists are looking for different ways to make money and still be able to make music”.
Brogan mentioned how grassroots try to “make money off of merchandise sales and streaming hopefully one day”. He emphasised the limitations of music-making on a student budget as “successful artists with great big sounds spend a lot of money in the studio for professional producers to help them but students don’t have that kind of money or experience to get into those spaces yet”. He told me that he is learning production himself and planning on continuing this post-university to remain in the industry and increase his chances of producing better music and therefore, getting noticed.
“I can’t really say what my future is going to look like because I’m not sure what’s happening with the music industry”
Brogan Ritchie- Commercial Music student at Bath Spa university
Interviewing the CM Socials Team at Bath Spa University:
When talking to Brogan, he explained how “it’s easier when CM [Commercial Music Socials Team at Bath Spa University] organises the gigs, because then you know for sure you’ll be playing to at least 10 or 15 people from CM” as this is where the community in Bath thrives for Brogan and his fellow music students. With the Southwest of England only sharing 6.7% of revenue from the music industry in the UK, small musicians in Bath need to stick together and support one another.
Ethan Hurn, 21, from the CM Socials team at Bath Spa University highlighted how they are “lucky with the connections the university has (including Komedia, Burdall’s Yard & Voles/ Assembly Inn) but trying to put on an event outside of this would probably be more difficult”. The surrounding students and established community mean that there is a constant audience for CM Socials, but Hurn explained to me that it would “be a nice shift to see more members of the general public coming in and checking out the gigs we put on”.
Less and less general audiences are coming to support grassroots music venues due to the consequences that the autumn Tax Budget has pushed onto the industry. In a letter to Sir Kier Starmer reported in Sky News- representors for grassroots music, Trade Bodies, have stressed how the budget will increase ticket costs and lose many jobs which throws another stone in the works for an already struggling industry now facing another economic and social knock.
“It takes a lot to stand out and it at times can be more difficult than other times, but we all love music and that’s what we chase”
Ethan Hurn- Part of the CM Socials team + Commercial Music student at Bath Spa University
Hurn said that “putting on a social is never really that cheap” and being a student does limit the possibilities but “they always manage to pull something together”. Passion and drive are what keeps the CM team going despite the 74% cut on youth services between 2011 and 2021 in the YMCA Youth Services Report. But at the end of the day “It takes a lot to stand out and it at times can be more difficult than other times, but we all love music and that’s what we chase” expressed Hurn.
“Without a flourishing grassroots music industry, the rest of our music industry will wither.”
Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade Sir Chris Bryant on Introducing Voluntary Ticket Levy 2023- GOV.UK
With music and community at the heart of the grassroots industry since “most people go to smaller gigs because they are friends with the people playing on stage”, explained Brogan. It is clear that the buzz and excitement for grassroots music amongst the general public has declined. Hurn mentioned, “I rarely see general members of the public turn up to our events”. The sense of community and support amongst grassroots thrives but in terms of this extending to success amongst large audiences, our cost-of-living crisis and the repercussion of COVID-19 has caused detrimental impact for the industry. In his statement for the ticket levy to the UK Government, Sir Chris Bryant expressed how “without a flourishing grassroots music industry the rest of our music industry will wither. It is crucial that we work together to support the grassroots including venues, festivals, artists and promoters”.
Comments