LIVE Green showcases work at another excellent GEI

• The 16th edition of the GEI Conference took place this week and was, once again, packed with inspirational speakers and excellent examples of groundbreaking work in the sustainability space.  LIVE was particularly pleased to see our Chair, LIVE Green, Carol Scott in action as part of a panel to showcase work in development on model sustainability clauses for artists contracts.  The work was very well received, though no one underestimates the follow up work required to embed them into our ways of working.  Keep your eyes peeled for draft clauses that will be put out for comment very soon.

ILMC: LIVE co-chairs International Association Summit

• As part of another excellent ILMC, LIVE co-chaired a revamped meeting of international live music associations to discuss areas of common interest and to share good practice.  Participants from Europe, Asia and North America offered their thoughts on challenges and opportunities in live music with a number of common issues identified.  Market dynamics, audience habits, challenges around touring and how we support our teams were all considered.  As a next step, the group plans to share information and innovation and we hope to find other opportunities to meet before we reconvene at ILMC next year. 

A1 Forms: LIVE to meet with Government

• With pressure on HMRC being kept up in the Commons and Lords (thanks to interventions by Barbara Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow Culture Minister, and longstanding friend of LIVE, the Earl of Clancarty).  Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Nigel Huddleston MP, has agreed to meet with us to discuss progress in improving the provision of A1 forms, in particular for self-employed workers in the music industry touring in the European Economic Area.  With artists sometimes seeing nearly half their fee withheld in the absence of a form, it is critical that HMRC gets back to delivering A1s to the expected timescale. 

New EU law to help promoters, managers and agents remove illegal ticket resale listings

• The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) is now in place across Europe, promising positive change to the world of predatory ticket resale.  Until now the only option available for artists touring Europe to prevent uncapped resale sites from illegally listing tickets was costly legal action, but the DSA requires resale marketplaces to offer a clear complaints system.  This gives promoters, agents and managers the ability to flag tickets that are listed illegally. If complaints are not dealt with quickly, they can be escalated to new regulatory organisations that can enforce the law and fine up to 6% of the marketplace’s annual worldwide turnover.
• Sites are also responsible for ensuring that trader details are clearly visible to ticket buyers.  This is already in place in the UK, and has successfully been used to identify and void tickets being traded in contravention of Ts and Cs. ‘Dark patterns’, malicious pop-ups and website features used to encourage quick purchasing of tickets, have also been banned.
• The new system is still getting up and running, and full guidance on how to make takedowns will be published on Make Tickets Fair! in due course. This site has been set up by 18 UK and EU live event organisations to improve best practice and consumer awareness. 

LIVE Talks: POWER UP Equality and Equity in the LIVE sector of the UK music industry.

• Join POWER UP alum for a discussion about the challenges for Black music practitioners within the live sector of the UK music industry as they share what they are doing, their hurdles and what initiatives they know of that are making REAL CHANGE! And, let’s not forget, what still needs to be done.
• Hosted by Ras Kwame, Broadcaster, contributors will include: Adem Holness, FRSA, Head of Contemporary Music at Southbank Centre; Hannah Shogbola, UTA Live Agent and Founder of DAJU and co-founder of BEMA; Tumi Williams, Promoter and Artist; and Neicee Oakley, Tour Manager.
• This online session will take place at 12.00pm on Tuesday 5th March, 2024 and you can sign up for FREE here.  Do not forget that you can watch all of the previous talks in this series via the LIVE Talks archive.  LIVE Talks would not be possible without the ongoing support of our committed partners: AEG, Kilimanjaro Live; Live Nation; Serious; SJM and Utilita Arena Birmingham.  We thank them for their commitment to promoting and sharing insight and good practice across our sector.

Final call for freelancers: last chance to make your voice heard in our survey!

• LIVE has partnered with Handle Freelance Solutions, the Back Lounge and UK LIVE Event Freelancers Forum to launch a survey, the Hidden Side of Freelancing 2024, to understand and identify the changes required to improve the experience of freelancers who are crucial to the success of the live music industry. The survey explores pay transparency and the personal experiences of freelancers at live music events. It aims to help freelancers understand their true value and benchmark their own experience whilst also celebrating what makes live music a great industry for freelancers. The results will then be assessed, culminating in a publicly available report that will be published in April 2024. This survey will give freelancers in our industry the information needed to get the most out of the work they do. Join us in delivering impactful change for every freelancer by sharing your story here – before the portal closes on the 10 March.

Partner with us: support live music! 

• As LIVE builds out its programme of activities (from research and information exchange to events and political engagement) have you ever considered how you could get more involved? 2024 will see LIVE engage in further thought leadership work across sustainability, diversity and accessibility. If you would like to find out more about how you can support please contact gaby@livemusic.biz or check out more information here.