Save The Scene: From Survival to Strategy

Event information

Scotland’s grassroots music ecosystem is under growing structural pressure. Ongoing venue closures, rising costs, unequal access to funding, and increasing precarity for artists, promoters, and venues are placing the foundations of the sector at risk. These challenges are compounded by geographic imbalance, inadequate infrastructure and systemic barriers that shape who is able to participate, progress, and sustain long-term involvement in grassroots music.

Whilst these issues are widely acknowledged, there are few public, solution-focused spaces that bring together industry decision makers, practitioners, and communities on equal footing – we want to change that. Addressing these challenges requires approaches that recognise accessibility and fairness as core to the sustainability of the sector, ensuring that grassroots music in Scotland remains open and culturally relevant.

We invite you to be part of the discussion on creating short term actions, advocacy, policy pressure, and shaping the future of grassroots music in Scotland based on the lived experiences of the communities who keep it alive.