What it means: there is no official count of music venues. The nearest is businesses whose main activity is running an arts facility, which includes concert halls and arts centres as well as theatres. Small pubs and bars that host live music are counted as pubs. The Music Venue Trust, a charity, tracks grassroots music venues and reports frequent closures, but its figures are not official statistics and are not used here. Shown for context.

Source: ONS, UK business counts (Nomis), SIC 90040; ONS, business demography 2024, tables 1.2 and 2.2 (SIC 90).