Magical moment as 1 million attend shows supporting LIVE Trust in a single week

Less than a year since the full LIVE Trust board met for the first time, the remarkable progress made by the Trust has been evident in the growth of supporting tours, number of shows and money distributed.
 
We started out in June 2025 with 3 tours pledging their support. By the end of 2025, a total of 67 shows carried the LIVE Trust pledge. 12 months down the line, the total number of shows that have pledged their support currently stands at 346 across 75 tours – a figure that is increasing every day.
 
And just this week, we saw 1 million people at shows supporting LIVE Trust. Foo Fighters, Olivia Dean, Deacon Blue, Lily Allen and many more have contributed to that total - not least the incredible Harry Styles’ Together Together tour. It was a proud moment for the LIVE and LIVE Trust teams to witness our logo up on the big screens alongside a message of thanks.
 
We could not succeed in our mission of protecting and expanding grassroots music without the support of these tours and the fans who fill our stadiums, arenas and venues night after night.

MPs call on Government to work with EU to break down barriers for artists

Last week, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee released a report calling on Government to work with the EU to break down barriers and boost domestic support for performers. 
 
The report identifies three categories of barrier: cross-border travel and work, movement of goods and transport and logistics. The report calls on Government to negotiate with the EU and member states and to boost support for performers unilaterally.
 
The timing of the report was particularly significant given hopes that the July UK-EU Summit could provide a vehicle for progress on touring issues. However, in light of Starmer’s resignation this week, the summit has now been postponed, as Brussels waits for the arrival of the pro-European Andy Burnham in Downing Street to redraw post-Brexit relations.
 
That puts an increased focus on overcoming existing barriers and working on a country-to-country (or even city-to-city) level to open up new opportunities for artists and crew at all levels. It was timely, then, that LIVE’s Jon Collins chaired a session on this very topic at the highly successful Liverpool Welcomes Europe event, which saw ambassadors, officials and dignitaries from multiple EU member states come to the city to discuss common values and mutual opportunities for growth.

LIVE Festivals’ work in the spotlight as festival season ramps up

On 16 June, LIVE Festivals met to discuss a range of topics, from mental health in the music industry with Music Minds Matter, to the latest updates from Vision for Sustainable Events on their Show Must Go On Report (Volume 3) which launched in February. Registration for the Sustainable Events Summit on 21 October is now open - sign up here.
 
We also had confirmation that LIVE will be holding a series of roundtables on direct licensing. If you have any questions, want to share issues you’ve had with the current system, or have suggestions for how to improve it, reach out to tani@livemusic.biz.
 
Separately, it was great to see LIVE CEO Jon Collins quoted in the Guardian last week regarding the tenacity of festival operators and, in Jon’s words, their capacity ‘to eat and drink risk’. You can read the full article, including contributions from AIF’s John Rostron, here, and check out LIVE's Instagram post on this.

LIVE Green partners with BFI and Arts Council England to keep the public cool

LIVE Green has partnered with BFI and Arts Council England for Cool Off in Culture – a UK-wide campaign helping the public to easily find and access cultural venues that can act as cool refuges during the hot weather. Given we are in the midst of another extreme heatwave, it is an excellent time for venues to get involved and increase visitor numbers.
 
Over 80 venues have signed up and the new Heat Adaptation for Culture Venues guide has been published with practical measures for venues that do not have air conditioning installed.
 
The campaign launches today, Friday 26 June, as part of London Climate Action Week. Venues can sign up to be added to the map and can access a range of free design assets to encourage visits during the heatwave on the Julie’s Bicycle website. 

Congratulations to LIVE’s Toni Lines!

This Pride Month, we’re celebrating our colleague Toni, Senior Programme Manager at LIVE Trust, who has been selected for IQ Magazine's LGBTIQ+ List 2026 - chosen by their peers for their contribution to the international live music business.

We're incredibly proud to have them as part of LIVE Trust’s team. The full list is published in IQ Magazine – congratulations to all the nominees!

Did you miss our last LIVE Talk?

If you didn’t make it to our most recent LIVE Talk, ‘Generational Dynamics at Work: From Friction to Collaboration’ with Suzanne Mau-Asam and Nadine Pertsch from Doors Open – Institute of Sociology, you can find a recording of the session on our website and YouTube channel here. An informative hour offering insight into the modern day implications of our hardwired fight, flight or freeze response and the power of being able to ‘name it to tame it’.