The battle to keep one of the UK’s great grassroots venues alive, buying the venue with the help of the community, and the many challenges small venues face in 2026 – with Ricky Bates of The Joiners

2026-01-28

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Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works – and this week they speak to Ricky Bates, head of booking and promotion at the Joiners in Southampton - one of the UK’s great grassroots venues. But first they chat about:Half a million pounds is being distributed in the UK to grassroots venues artists and events - and it’s money gathered from the levy on ticket sales in the UK. Steve and Stu discuss how this money is being spent – and how it will make a difference.Last week, Steve spoke to...

Your weekly guide to the music biz and how it all works – and this week they speak to Ricky Bates, head of booking and promotion at the Joiners in Southampton - one of the UK’s great grassroots venues. But first they chat about:

Half a million pounds is being distributed in the UK to grassroots venues artists and events - and it’s money gathered from the levy on ticket sales in the UK. Steve and Stu discuss how this money is being spent – and how it will make a difference.
Last week, Steve spoke to highly successful UK manager Niamh Byrne (Blur, Gorillaz and more) and you’ll be able to hear that interview in a couple of weeks.
But one notable thing she spoke about was how managers are working harder than ever, and need to provide more services than before. So what is a manager’s job now?
Also at the Music Ally Connect conference, a key Universal music exec spoke about how AI can create new songs when one song is “covered” by AI versions of other artists: “I really want to hear what it sounds like for Jimi Hendrix to play Bitches Brew”. But do people really want to hear AI-generated cover versions?

Then the duo speak to Ricky Bates and he discusses the reality of running a local grassroots venue in 2026 – and it’s a solid-gold local venue that has hosted most of today’s biggest bands on their way up. It's where both Coldplay and Manic Street Preachers signed their first deals, and how Green Day "accidentally" played their Kerplunk! album launch show at the Joiners.

The public podcast contains highlights of the interview – however Patreon Superfan listeners can hear the whole interview as this week’s lock-in content! (Become a Patreon Superfan here! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ThePriceofMusic⁠⁠⁠)

Ricky speaks about:

How he started at the venue by being thrown in at the deep end – and how he cleared a huge rent debt (with help from some Frank Turner gigs)
How a “reset button” has been hit in the last few years – and how people’s gig-going habits have changed recently
What the hidden costs are of running a venue – and why the profit margins are so tight
The stressful process of buying the venue with the help of the Music Venue Trust
How artists are starting to book shorter “big city” tours that avoid the regional towns and cities, leaving local fans with fewer options.
How under-18s fans are often drawn to the huge arena shows at the expense of cheap local shows.
The future of the venue and what decades of moshing has done to the floor of the dancefloor!

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As ever, we welcome your feedback, emails and – in particular – any questions you might have about how the music biz works!

Email us: ⁠⁠thepriceofmusicpodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠

See you next week!

Steve and Stuart

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