V&A Museum to Host Exhibition on London’s Iconic Lost Music Venues – Your Support Needed!

Exhibition on Lost Musical Sites

The following year, the V&A Museum in London will hold an exhibition on the lost musical sites of the city, and it is seeking assistance from the general public.

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  2025 can change the situation to finance British mass music, but when will we see the action and where will the money go?

Call for Artifacts and Musical Ephemera

Working with The Music Venue Trust, the museum aims to showcase the legacy of numerous musical platforms in the city that have closed down. They invite people to contribute their “artifacts and musical ephemera” to enrich the exhibition’s collection.

The exhibition is scheduled to launch in 2026, and Londoners have until May 31 of this year to submit any objects from the period of 1988 to 2025 for consideration.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with V&A on an exciting project that champions mass music sites and their cultural heritage – and you can be a part of it,” shared The Music Venue Trust on Instagram.

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Impact on Small Music Venues

The exhibition “Lost Music Venues” will emphasize “The Importance of Mass and Independent Musical Spaces – From Pubs to Nightclubs Across the UK.”

“Do you have any flyers, signs, floor coverings, equipment, set lists, posters, photos, videos, DJs, microphones, designs, or clothing from an independent club or venue? We are looking for materials from 1988-2025.”

The exhibition occurs amidst a crisis for small music venues. One proposed solution is a model where a venue collects £1 from ticket sales, redistributing the funds back into the ecosystem to support the current pipeline.

Earlier this year, a survey indicated strong support for this policy among the majority of music stakeholders, with 93 percent of the 8,000 respondents stating they “urgently agreed” that the initiative would be a positive step forward.

This proposal has garnered backing from notable artists such as Coldplay, Sam Fender, Enter Shikari, and Katy Perry. According to MVT, “over £580,000 has already been reinvested in the mass network through 147 grants.”

At the beginning of the year, it became apparent that live music venues require greater support. Initial data showed that 70.6 percent of independent British acts had never toured, while 84 percent of unsigned artists could not afford to do so. Another study released in January revealed that the UK was losing one mass music venue every two weeks—nearly half of these venues were considered at risk.

The British government is currently exploring ways to assist live music’s future. Earlier this year, it was announced that parliament would investigate the resale of tickets and examine the official consultation on ticket resale practices and “dynamic pricing.”