It’s not a zero sum game, though.
It’s the oldest Tory trick in the book to dish out less than is needed, so we fight each other over the scraps instead of fighting them for what people need.
It’s not Boiler Room’s fault that the venues you mention were not funded, it’s the government and funding authority who make the decisions.
To my knowledge, Boiler Room often partner up with drinks firms. Just because they’ve had a bit of public subsidy thrown their way doesn’t mean they have to be communists now and I don’t think Absolut are any worse than any other drinks brand (I could be wrong there though, haven’t researched it).
It’s 2020. At the minute, platforms like Boiler room are the venue, if they go under then a lot of already struggling artists will have even fewer avenues for exposure. Boiler room might be a bit cheesy and their sound quality might not be all that good, but they offer a lot of independent artists the sort of exposure they haven’t enjoyed since John Peel died.