Historically and in the present day, grassroots venues have given opportunities to up and coming musicians to play in front of people and gain notoriety locally.
In the 90s, bands such as Radiohead, Ride and Supergrass were all massively helped by Oxfordshire venues such as The Jericho Tavern, The Zodiac (now the O2 Academy) and The Elm Tree.
Despite this, “more than half (53%) of UK grassroots music venues showed no profit at all in 2025” according to the Music Venue Trust 2025.
So far in Oxford there has been a number hich have shut including The Cellar, The Wheatsheaf, The Purple Turtle, Fever, Wahoo, The Glee Club, Warehouse, Clem’s, The Coven and The Zodiac.
Oxford City Council has created a Grassroots Music Fund, and in 2026 they invested £20,000 on musicians and venues. Oxford Museum has created an exhibit called ‘Sounds of the City’, which aims to celebrate the Oxford 90s music scene but also to highlight the importance of smaller venues, creating live music shows as well, to give more opportunities to local musicians.
The exhibition showcases items, pictures and memorabilia from the 90s music scene, hoping to inspire future musicians.
Speaking to the Museum of Oxford Exhibition Officer: Beth Jones, she stated how: “The exhibition and project is about Oxford music in the 90s, specifically grassroots music and venues.
“We are trying to keep those conversations alive. Celebrating history and the past is a really good way of showcasing that in the present day.”
Oxford musician Danny Mellin expressed just how crucial grassroots venues are for musicians.
“They [grassroots venues] are the cornerstone for anyone doing it outside of money because grassroots venues are the way you get your foot in the door with promoters and fans.
“You always start playing in those smaller capacity venues and they’re so important for the artists wanting to develop their sound and wanting to build some momentum. This is because you need to have dates sold out on your posters to kind of make a dent and make people start going, oh, this person is going places.”