Ticketmaster increases charitable support through ticket sales

TicketMaster has followed up its 2021 booking fee rebate program with more ways for fans to support venues in their community. Those who purchase tickets on Music Venues Day 2023 in the UK can support their local venues by upselling their ticket purchases as a donation towards the Music Venue Trust (MVT).

TicketMaster recently announced that they will be increasing their support for the MVT organization by allowing fans to add to their ticket purchases with a donated amount that will be given to the charity. MVT was originally established in 2014 to support grassroots venues in the UK. The feature will be implemented on Music Venues Day this year (October 17, 2023), the next implementation of the event since its inception in 2016.

Though the Music Venues Day event only lasts one day, the upselling option will last on the ticket-selling site for a whole month. TicketMaster has already stated that they intend to bring back the upsell feature once every year with no planned end date decided upon. Fans hesitant to donate may be more enticed by the knowledge that TicketMaster has pledged to match each donation made by buyers. The new initiative adds to TicketMaster’s booking rebate program for venues, which began back in 2021. Now, on top of receiving 50% of the booking fees back from TicketMaster, venues can also look forward to the extended patronage of fans looking to support their local music scene.

Mark Davyd, CEO of MVT, has emphasized how dire circumstances have become for venues and highlighted how the support of ticket buyers can help businesses in their community:

“We believe that live music fans understand exactly how vital these venues are to the future of our whole music ecosystem and how much financial difficulty they are currently facing,” he adds.

“127 grassroots music venues have closed in the last 12 months – more than one is permanently closing every week. We need a radical intervention by everyone: the government, the music industry, artists and fans, to stop these closures and turn this around.”

With the added support, there is greater potential for UK ravers to enjoy the venues they have called home for innumerable magical events that helped shape the very scene and community that they love and have participated in on a local and frequent level.

Image Credit: Daniele via Flickr | License (CC BY-SA 2.0)