Cardiff: a Music City – but for Who? Reflections from the Grassroots.

“A Music City”

We’ve all seen the signs, the billboards, the social media ads. Cardiff is officially and proudly a Music City. The Welsh capital was named the UK’s first official Music City in 2019 after an independent report by Sound Diplomacy mapped our music ecosystem and offered a set of recommendations. The report itself never promised anything; it was an analysis and a roadmap.

The follow-up commitments came from Cardiff Council and the Welsh Government, who embraced the idea of weaving music into city planning and economic strategy.

Progress Worth Applauding

Six years later, the city can point to some wins. We’ve seen real and well-publicised investment in big outdoor shows and arenas, including huge shows at Blackweir Fields, and the Grassroots Venue Fund has shared around £200,000 between spaces like Clwb Ifor Bach, Chapter, The Canopi, The New Moon, Paradise Garden, Tiny Rebel, The Queer Emporium, Acapela, 4pi Productions, The Grange, Silkcrayon, The Dock and Brewhouse. Creative Wales stepped in to help independents like Porter’s relocate and soundproof. The National Music Service is widening access to music education, and Clwb Ifor Bach’s planned expansion is a genuine boost for mid-size gigs. All of which are initiatives inspired and motivated by Cardiff’s Music City status.

And there’s more change coming: an O₂ Academy is on the way. On paper that’s a massive win, we finally have a mid-to-large capacity room (around 1,500 to 2,000) that can catch some of those national touring acts who currently skip Cardiff for Bristol. It means jobs for techs, bar staff and promoters, plus better chances for local bands to land high-profile support slots. But it only counts as a real Music City success if some of that economic boost is fed back into the grassroots. Without a mechanism like a ticket levy or a clear commitment from the council, the new venue risks taking audiences and bar spend away from the smaller rooms we can’t afford to lose.

Grassroots on the Back Foot

These significant wins shouldn’t be understated, but they don’t tell the whole story. Since Sound Diplomacy’s report and glowing review of Cardiff’s music economy and cultural identity, we’ve lost a number of beloved grassroots rooms including The Moon and Gwdihŵ, while other historic original music-focused staples have fought to survive. Business rates, soaring energy bills, licensing headaches and the wider challenges faced by hospitality venues remain daily battles. Grants help, but they can’t erase those structural pressures.

Why Every Kind of Venue Counts

And while it’s easy to pit “grassroots” against “commercial,” the reality is more connected. Take Croeso Pubs’ venues like The Dock and Brewhouse who saw a share of the Grassroots Venue Fund. They’re Cardiff-born, Cardiff-focused, and keep a huge network of working musicians, sound engineers and techs in regular employment. Even the most dedicated lover of original music ends up dancing to a live rendition of Mr Brightside on a Friday night, and those gigs keep talented players earning and honing their craft. That income often means musicians can bankroll the riskier original projects we all want to see thrive. They are part of the ecosystem, not outside it.

Where I think the powers that be are still missing a trick, is in supporting multi-use spaces; venues that aren’t branded as music hubs but can nurture new talent and put it in front of more varied audiences. The collaboration we at No Poetry have with North Star in Maindy is a prime example: a pub that lives on renowned Sunday roasts, chaotic and vibrant quiz nights, and a strong student clientele, yet transforms every Tuesday into a talent scout’s dream, filled with fresh local original talent cutting teeth and offering an exciting form of entertainment. Similarly, Boho Cardiff flips from cocktail lounge and nightclub to sold-out rock venue whenever No Poetry takes over. These “chameleon” rooms prove you don’t need a neon live music venue sign to grow a scene, and policy should actively encourage that flexibility from venues and spaces that might not have considered adapting an original music night.

Lessons from Memphis

Other cities have shown what’s possible when Sound Diplomacy’s advice is followed through. For example, Memphis launched a Music Export Office and new grants that keep Beale Street running, while supporting hip-hop and indie acts. Cardiff has made progress, but these cities demonstrate how far a strategy can go when it’s backed by sustained, congruent policy.

The Hospo Squeeze

Even if Cardiff copied them tomorrow, we’d still face the wider UK challenge. Business rates rise faster than footfall, energy costs this year lept to triple what they were in 2021, licensing grows stricter, and the tax on alcohol sold in pubs remains far higher than on supermarket shelves. Why would someone pay six pounds for a pint in a staffed venue with security and a duty of care, when they can buy six cans for twelve and drink at home, or at an unlicensed house-party gig, without oversight? That policy gap quietly rewards unregulated solitary or chaotic ‘pre-drink’ sessions, while squeezing the very social spaces that keep communities safe and vibrant.

Live music and the pub are cornerstones of British culture. Think of the Beatles, Queen, Oasis; all born in small back-room gigs. Think of the simple act of meeting friends for a pint, a tradition as old as the music itself. Price people out of those spaces and we don’t just lose gigs; we lose the communities that make cities worth living in.

From Policy to People: The Next Steps

Cardiff doesn’t just need more posters, it needs policy with real dedication. A few priorities are obvious:

From the City: Introduce a £1-per-ticket levy on every arena and stadium show, ring-fenced for grassroots development. Give the Cardiff Music Board and the Music Venue Trust a formal role in planning and licensing decisions so they can protect small and hybrid spaces before they’re under threat, not after.

From Government: Level the playing field between pubs and supermarkets. Rebalance alcohol duty so it’s cheaper to drink in a supervised, licensed venue with trained staff and live entertainment, than to buy cut-price spirits and drink in isolation or at home beforehand. Back that up with real business-rate relief and energy-cost support for hospitality.

From Audiences, Us: The simplest and most powerful thing: turn up. Go to the Tuesday night gig, buy a pint. Pay the fiver on the door, reward venues for hosting these events with your patronage. Share the music, tip the sound tech, buy the band’s T-shirt. Campaign for these policy shifts and remind elected officials that live music is a public good, not a hobby.

Cardiff has the talent, the audiences and the venues; big and small, grassroots and party-ready. What we need now is the political pressure, locally and nationally, to treat every stage, from a 60-cap back room to a packed stadium, as part of one living ecosystem. No Poetry will keep doing its part, as we have done for almost a decade: turning pubs, lounges and cocktail bars into discovery nights for the next wave of Cardiff sound, and moshing out at as many grassroots gigs as we can find in Cardiff.

A real Music City isn’t just built on arena posters, it’s built in a pub on a Tuesday, honing artists and audiences alike for those bigger stages.