Insights from Independent Venue Weeks Marketing Head on This Year’s Vital Celebrations

Independent Venue Week, the annual honouring of independent music venues across the UK, takes place next week. Running from Monday 29th January to Sunday 4th February, the 7-day celebration will honour the hundreds of grassroots music spaces who’ve enrolled to participate in this year’s festivities, with support from long-standing partners, BBC 6 Music, and IVW ambassadors the likes of solo artists, Brooke Coombe and LEMFRECK, and post-punk quartet, English Teacher.

This year’s celebrations, more-so than any other in IVW’s eleven year history, hold particular importance. 2023 marked the worst year on record for venue closures in the UK, with 125 venues said to have closed their doors for good. With this in mind, we sought to speak with a member of the IVW team, connecting with the venue-saving organisations Head of Marketing, Sam Heffer, who graciously offered up his time to answer a few of our questions.

Read our full interview with Sam below to discover what plans IVW have in store for the week to come, learn about the contents of their ten-year impact report, released last September, the launch of Independent Venue Community, and more.

Let’s begin by taking a look at your backstory. How did you first get involved with IVW and what does your role entail?

“As Head of Marketing at Independent Venue Week, my role is to strategise, produce and deliver all outgoing communications on behalf of the project, predominantly in the digital world but not exclusively. I have been a part of the IVW team for just over two years now, having got involved in the project through connections from my time working in the music industry in Leeds. My interest in the role was sparked by a passion to support the UK’s
independent venues that have been so influential to my own career in the industry up to that point, making the job as rewarding as it is so much fun to contribute towards.”

Huge congratulations to your team on helping IVW reach its eleventh year. Ahead of the week-long celebrations, we want to know what special plans you have planned for 2024.

“As with every edition of Independent Venue Week, the week is a chance to shine a spotlight on all the incredible events that independent venues are putting on during that week as a way of celebrating the people that own, run and work in these spaces all year round. There are hundreds of events of all kinds taking place in 205 venues across the UK, highlighting the uniqueness, authenticity and diversity of these special places to their own local communities.

At Independent Venue Week HQ, we are working with our partners to curate some special plans of our own,
including the BBC6 Music tour with Steve Lamacq and Huw Stephens. This year they will be taking their tour bus out around the UK, broadcasting their 4-7pm shows from different independent venues day, bringing performances from those sites by artists such as Ash (Oh Yeah Centre, Belfast), 86TVs (Whistle Binkies, Edinburgh), NewDad (The Fulford Arms, York), Antony Szmierek (The Rockin’ Chair, Wrexham) and #IVW24 ambassadors English Teacher (The Polar Bear, Hull). Our Scottish and Welsh ambassadors Brooke Combe and L E M F R E C K will also be performing special sets at MacArts, Galashiels and The Gate, Cardiff respectively.”

A ten-year Impact report was released in the autumn of last year in conjunction with IVW’s tenth anniversary. What were the key highlights and areas for improvement identified in the both the report and the exercise?

“The impact report was something we have been very much looking forward to finally realising: we work tirelessly 52 weeks a year to deliver meaningful activity on behalf of independent venues and their communities, so to see collated stats from the last 10 years showing that work’s tangible impact was really special for us and served as a reminder of why we work as hard as we do. 4,945 gigs have been taken place as part of IVW since its inception with over 1 million tickets sold, which is mind blowing to us! To also see testimonials from those who have benefited from IVW and IVC activity over the years is so lovely to read: we are a nationwide initiative but with a very local feel, so connecting with individuals to offer opportunities that benefit them in the best way possible for themselves is a core value of ours that we will very much carry into the next decade.

Of course, there is always more we can do to support and celebrate independent venues around the country which is why we are keen to expand the IVC project in our programming across its 6 strands, as well as provide more activity throughout the year for IVW on top of Independents Day, our annual stakeholder conference. As our founder Sybil says in the report, “there should be IVW and IVC activity happening every single day in this country in a venue”. This is the dream and the goal we are working towards as we head into the next 10 years.”

(The full ten-year report is available to download for free via the following link: www.independentvenueweek.com/uk/2023/09/21/ivw-and-ivc-release-10-year-impact-report).

Regarding the IVC initiative, what programmes are in place to help communities get the most from their local venues, both over this year’s 7-day celebration and across the weeks and months that follow?

“Independent Venue Community has a range of programmes across six strands of under-represented communities that open the doors of independent venues during the day, thereby unlocking their potential as so much more than just spaces for live music.

One of these programmes, Soundcheck Sessions will be running all around the UK during IVW24: these sessions offer young people the chance to come to a venue before doors open to the public, to watch the artist, playing that night, soundcheck and then have Q&A with them along with some of the crew and venue team. Participants can come from local schools, colleges and youth groups, often giving them their first experience inside an independent venue. Details of all sessions taking place during the week can be found on the IVC website: https://independentvenuecommunity.com/programmes/soundcheck-sessions/

Also in this strand are our Be courses, multi-session programmes that introduce young people to industry experts such as venue managers, artists, promoters, agents etc. as well as the IVW team who impart knowledge of their field to these attendees with a view of opening the door to the various roles available in the industry. These have taken place in for young people in Ipswich and London so far with more courses to be announced soon.

Other strands programme activity for the following communities: Early Years, Deaf Disabled & Neurodivergent, Mental Health & Wellbeing, LGBTQIA+ and Older Years. It is possible that members of these communities may feel that independent venues are not spaces for them, and we know this to not be true. By introducing them to these spaces through this activity, we hope to figuratively and physically open the door to the possibilities of these places to them and widen the venues’ audiences as a result.”

Details of all programmes on the IVC website: https://independentvenuecommunity.com/programmes/

2024 is likely to be another difficult year for grassroots music and independent venues, with 2023 said to be the worst year on record for music venue closures.

Aside from bringing much-needed revenue and attention to venues across Britain, what other schemes does IVW have in place to support venue owners and those who rely on said venues as a source of income? And where can more information or help be found?

“Of course, it is true that this is a difficult time for independent venues as it is for everybody in this cost-of-living crisis and it is heartbreaking to see those that we have lost this year. What IVW aims to do is to celebrate these venues by way of adding extra spotlight to what they do and encouraging people to get out and support them during the week and year-round. Independent venues are the lifeblood of their local communities and act as cultural hubs for people of all walks of life to meet and enjoy time together. If as members of our local communities we can ensure these spaces are always full to enjoy the diverse array of programming they offer, we can ensure they are spaces to create unforgettable experiences for the future as well as today. There are so many venues open right now who are doing some amazing things in their areas, and we want to highlight this to as wide of an audience as we can and keep them thriving in the way they all should.

As mentioned in the report, Independent Venue Week exists for venues every week of the year and we are making plans for how we can be a more proactive resource for venues year-round, just as Independent Venue Community will also be doing albeit from a more daytime perspective. Our stakeholder conference Independents Day will run once again this year that brings together venue teams from across the UK to network and share ideas amongst a host of panels and workshops with industry experts that can help develop their businesses.

Independent venues, keep an eye on the IVW and IVC websites and socials to be the first to know about new and exciting opportunities we have to offer!”

Looking to the future and considering the current challenges facing venues in the UK, what more is needed to be done, especially by the governing authorities, to ensure these places of culture are available to future generations?

“Although I am certainly no politician, what I do know is that independent venues are absolutely vital to UK culture and must be protected and nurtured by our government at all costs. With the help of the likes of Arts Council England, Creative Wales and Creative Scotland, we are able to continue to play our own part in this which we are so grateful for but it is crucial that more support is given to each and every venue that needs it. As gig-goers, we can do our part by buying tickets early for shows we want to go to, putting money behind the bar and buying merch at the venue as and when we are able to support the immense work these teams do for our own enjoyment and for the enjoyment of future generations.”

For the benefit of an event organiser or venue owner reading this interview who is considering getting involved with IVW, what are the main benefits of participating?

“As a venue, there are many benefits to getting yourself signed up as an IVW venue, all of which are listed in our welcome pack that is sent around to our entire venue community database every year. If you did not receive this or would like a copy sent to you, please email ivw@independentvenueweek.com to be added to the mailing list.

These benefits include marketing and visibility across various IVW and partner channels for your venue in what is historically a quiet time for venues, joining a like-minded community to share ideas and collaborate, access to funding and agent contacts, opportunities for partner shows with the likes of BBC 6 Music, brand offers such as free bar stock or ticketing deals, and not to mention some lovely IVW-branded T-shirts and banners for your venue team during the week!

If you’re a gig-goer reading this, Independent Venue Week is a chance to get out and visit spaces you may never have been to before. Venues like to use the week as a chance to get creative with their programming and for established artists to come back to the spaces they made their careers in to play some very special and intimate shows. Take a look on the website for all #IVW24 shows taking place this year and start planning your week: https://independentvenueweek.com/uk/shows/“

As the Head of Marketing at IVW, can you share any insight into how your campaigns have changed over the years and/or adapted to different situations, post-pandemic for example?

And, for the promoters out there, what tips do you have to share when it comes to marketing events?

“I love working in marketing because just as you think you know what you’re doing and what works, something comes along and pulls the rug from under you that totally changes the game, forcing you to think of new ways to get your message across. Although the initial fall to the ground but can be a bit of a bump, getting back to your feet is a part that I love and keeps you on your toes (until the next rug gets pulled!)

In this way, I’d claim no one is an expert for long and things will have probably changed again by the time we finished this interview….so my advice would be to always keep your mind open to innovative ways of letting people know about your events. Social media and other online channels are saturated with all sorts of content including marketing for shows that we see every day, so think about what catches your eye and implement that into your own strategy. If it has stuck in your mind, chances are your work will then stick in someone else’s. Above all, have fun with it because that’s what you’re advertising!”

And finally, to round-off on a less negative tone, give our readers some positive takeaways. Give us some hope that we can still yet save our struggling venues.

“We are delighted to have 205 venues taking part in Independent Venue Week this year who are all putting on some incredible events for their local communities around the UK. We think that is something worth celebrating! Our partners Arts Council England, Creative Wales, Creative Scotland, BBC 6 Music, BBC Introducing, Beavertown, PPL and Sound Technology are all committed to supporting independent venues and their communities with a range of offers and opportunities to support them. The same goes for all our amazing IVC partners that help deliver our programming throughout the year as well as their own activity. We cannot recommend finding out more of what they do more when it comes to the live music community.

At IVW and IVC, we exist for independent venues just as independent venues exist for us gig-goers, so please join us as we get out and enjoy all they have to offer for IVW24 and throughout the year!”