Independent venues allow talent to develop and must be protected, says musician
![Anna Calvi: live music venues deserve as much help as ballet or opera](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/dc8b041211a7bd6a2a90dc36724365bb1f0931c9/0_79_3000_1800/master/3000.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=a6b1198d11bdf7de8c6f29a9047ab25d)
Britain’s independent
music venues should receive the same reverence and support as the ballet or opera, according to the musician Anna Calvi and the organisers behind a week-long initiative to promote the UK’s smaller concert halls.
Calvi, a three-time Mercury music prize nominee, told the Guardian that venues which predominantly focus on live music – and helped contribute £1.1bn to the
UK economy in 2018 – need to be protected at a time when a third of smaller venues report they are struggling.