This man is reviving London’s gig culture. His cure offers Sydney’s scene new hope too

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UK gig culture had reached crisis point, with dozens of venues going under in 2025 alone. The solution was surprisingly simple.

Jon Collins believes the pandemic crippled London’s live music scene, but concedes it was never as moribund as Sydney’s to begin with.

Efforts to wind back a decade of NSW lockout laws under a restrictive government were truncated by the global health crisis, leaving behind a dysfunctional music performance ecosystem, the chief executive of the UK’s Live Music Industry Venues and Entertainment said.

Collins is in Sydney to speak at a government nightlife conference about how he turned back the clock in London.

When he and a coalition of 13 live music organisations looked at how to revive gig culture at a point of crisis in the UK, they realised their ecosystem was out of balance. Large stadium tours were performing well, but artists, promoters and venues at the middle and grassroots levels were struggling.

The result: 43 festivals cancelled and 30 venues permanently closing in 2025 alone.

Fans no longer had disposable income to bet on their local gigs. Venues started relying on the predictability of cover shows. “The ability of people to experiment with that £10 ticket (about $20), go to the small local venue – they don’t have as much leeway to take those risks on that band that they don’t know,” Collins said.

“If you’ve only got limited disposable income, do you want a guaranteed seven out of 10 night out going to see an Oasis cover band … or would you rather go and see that band that you’ve not really heard of that could be a real two out of 10 stinker? Or it could be a nine out of 10, and they’re going to be playing arenas in three years.”

The answer to London’s woes is gaining attention in the NSW parliament, after the report from the NSW State of Live Music inquiry was tabled this week.

In the UK, following a parliamentary inquiry, a plan was devised to introduce a £1 levy on tickets for concerts with capacity for more than 5000 patrons, to be placed in a trust to fund the grassroots music scene. Since it began in 2025, it has raised millions of pounds.

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