LIVE Trust doubles UK touring grants for small venue tours to 8,000 pounds

UK-based musicians can now apply for grants worth up to 8,000 pounds towards touring costs, after LIVE Trust put 300,000 pounds of new funding into the Featured Artists Coalition's UK Artist Touring fund.

The fund is aimed at acts playing small to medium-sized rooms. The FAC says the money is meant to plug genuine shortfalls and de-risk touring, and frames it as a way of protecting the country's grassroots circuit rather than as a subsidy for individual careers. Applications opened on August 26 and close on Friday September 11, and applicants have to submit a touring budget sheet.

The 8,000-pound ceiling applies to headline tours, and artists can fold support slots, festival appearances and gigs that are not yet confirmed into an application. The FAC has also said it wants to widen where the money lands, with extra weight given to artists based in the North East, Tees Valley and West Yorkshire.

The new money comes from the voluntary 1-pound ticket levy introduced in 2025, which takes a pound from each ticket at selected arena and stadium shows and routes it into grassroots initiatives. Contributions from runs by Basement Jaxx, Radiohead and Duran Duran are among those that have helped the scheme distribute 1.5 million pounds so far.

The levy has been picking up more names as it goes. Earlier this year Sub Focus added a 1-pound grassroots levy to his 2027 UK arena shows, and separate pots have opened alongside it, including the Liveline Fund for venues, promoters and artists.

Doubling the ceiling matters because the arithmetic of a small tour has changed faster than the fees have. Vans, fuel, accommodation and crew have all risen, and a run that once broke even now often does not, which is the gap the FAC says this money is meant to close.