LIVE provides evidence to UK Music & the APPG on Music’s ‘Let the Music Move’ report
19.07.2022.The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music, in association with UK Music, have today published a report entitled ‘Let the Music Move – A New Deal for Touring’. LIVE was one of several industry groups who submitted expert evidence to the inquiry on behalf of the UK’s live music sector.
The UK is currently the second biggest exporter of music in the world and Europe is our industry’s closest and most important international market. To put that into context, in 2019, UK artists played almost four times as many shows across the EU than they did in North America.
However, as the report notes, when the UK left the EU, the UK’s music industry was not included in the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA), which means that there are now many barriers preventing artists and their crews from easily touring throughout the EU. This has particularly impacted artists at the start of their careers, who often lack the time, funds, and resources to navigate an increasingly complex and costly touring landscape.
To address the problems caused by Brexit, the report identifies three key areas as needing urgent attention from the UK Government:
- Firstly, the UK Government should work more closely with EU institutions and EU member states to improve the TCA.
- Secondly, the UK Government should push for a comprehensive Cultural Touring Agreement (CTA) with the EU, to liberate cultural touring from the bureaucracy that is holding it back.
- Thirdly, the UK Government should work productively with music industry to create and deliver a Music Export Strategy
Commenting on the report, LIVE CEO Jon Collins said:
“LIVE was delighted to provide expert evidence to the inquiry and we welcome this report’s publication. Our world class live music industry is a tremendous export success story for the UK, but we need to do more to protect and grow that position.
We urge the Government to engage with the EU to deliver frictionless movement for the people, goods, and services that make live music great. And beyond that, establish a Music Export Strategy that fosters talent, grows market share further and delivers both economically and culturally.”
