On 13 May, Wolf Alice co-founder and FAC (Featured Artists Coalition) Director Joff Oddie joined FAC CEO David Martin in Parliament to highlight the urgent challenges facing grassroots touring artists across the UK – a conversation with real implications for artists and communities in NI.

Appearing before the Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee, the pair spoke powerfully about the widening gap in access to the live music circuit, the rising cost of touring and the threat this poses to the future of music in the UK. Joff drew on his own experience starting out in Wolf Alice, stressing how vital grassroots venues were to their early success, and how such spaces are becoming increasingly inaccessible for artists without financial privilege.

The FAC has long called for structural support, including a levy on large-scale arena and stadium shows to fund grassroots touring. This idea was backed by the CMS Committee in 2024, who recognised that artists are the industry’s biggest employers and that a healthy grassroots sector is essential for the future of British music.

As part of the ongoing push for change, the FAC has launched the UK Artist Touring Fund, a mechanism to distribute funds raised through a levy directly to grassroots artists.

This work resonates across the UK, including Northern Ireland, where artists face many of the same financial and logistical hurdles when touring. Ensuring that NI musicians can access fairer touring conditions and funding support is vital to sustaining a thriving local scene, and to keeping our artists on the road and on the rise.

You can watch the session and read more via the FAC website.