Government to host Music Export Academy

Building on LIVE’s work with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the department is to host a one-hour Creative Industries Export Academy session dedicated to ‘Music Touring in the EU’.  The webinar will take place online at 2.00pm on February 7th with Government and industry leads offering insight and advice on key issues for UK musicians: visas, carnets and mobility issues; guidance and assistance available under the Export Support Service (ESS); cabotage and movement of equipment under the Trade & Cooperation Agreement, and; export documentation, VAT and EORI numbers. Find further information and how to register here.

T(PoP) Bill: Work continues 

LIVE has held further working sessions with the Home Office team working on the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill aka Protect Duty.  Given the complex and broad nature of the proposed legislation, it is critical that this stage is used to work through the multiple scenarios that could come into play.  LIVE is grateful to the Home Office team for their time and partnership approach and to those individuals form across live music who are contributing their thoughts and expertise. 

Timings for the introduction of the Bill remain unclear as there are a number of preliminary stages that need to be completed.  In an update to the House of Commons Security Minister, Tom Tugendhat MP expressed gratitude for the HASC’s work in scrutinising the legislation, stating that government is carefully considering its response, and reiterated its commitment to introducing the Bill in “this session of Parliament”.  The Minister also mentioned the planned standard tier (premises and events 100-799 capacity) consultation which aims to “strike the right balance between public protection and avoiding undue burdens on smaller premises” but did not set out an intended timeframe for this consultation.

Given the uncertain timings and the requirements for the Bill to be followed by wide ranging guidance and the potential creation of a new inspectorate, the requirement for operators to act under this legislation remain some years away.  While measures to address terrorism will be relevant and can be considered at SAGs and/or as part of licensing, specific requests to comply are premature and should be corrected.  Similarly, any third party companies claiming to offer ‘protect duty compliance’ should be queried as the duty has not yet been defined.

A1 Forms: are things improving? 

After requests from LIVE in Autumn 2023, then Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Victoria Atkins MP introduced a plan to resolve the delays in processing A1 forms.  This included deploying more resource to service A1 requests and a recovery strategy to deliver service standards (15 and 40 days) by April 2024.  In addition to more people, this included the development of digital channels to improve customer experience, and technology to speed up the processing of forms.  As we approach the halfway point of this work, LIVE has written again to the Treasury seeking an update and noting that significant delays remain widespread with all the associated hardship. 

LIVE’s letter sets out how touring is essential for musicians to make a living so unrestricted access to do so is vital.  For young and emerging talent, touring is the means through which they can grow creatively and organically expand their audience to earn a living.  It goes on to note that, while we appreciate the increased focus and resource the department has placed on this issue, we would like to request an update on the provisions in place to rectify the unworkable delays of A1 forms. The current situation must be addressed so artists face no further problems arising from the delay in A1 forms and the UK can continue to develop the next generation of global stars.  If you do have any examples of problems with A1 forms, please do send them on to LIVE.

Young Voices: Bringers of joy and an economic catalyst

We were delighted to see The O2’s Emma Bownes join BPI Chair, YolanDa Brown OBE DL and Anna Phoebe of the Ivor’s Academy; be appointed as ambassadors to the foundation.  Their appointments coming as new research from Young Voices shows that their 2023 touring programme of 27 concerts, brought together 175,000 children from 4,000 primary schools, delivered an almost 6x return in local economic impact across the host cities of Birmingham, London, Manchester and Sheffield and £56.6 million in social value.  Every child who participated in the 2023 performances generated an average turnover of £72.19 in the local economy, with over £10 million generated for the host cities, driven by non-local attendee spend. On average, 72% of the concert goers had travelled from elsewhere, spending £2.3 million locally on food and drink, shopping, travel and accommodation.

Jon Collins commented, “A key objective for LIVE is to ensure that we continue to see new generations coming into the world of live music, as performers, crew and audience. When it comes to engaging with young people to show them the magic of live performance (while reminding their parents of the joys of gig-going), nobody is doing that better than Young Voices.”

Diversity Survey

Once again, LIVE is supporting the UK Music Workforce Diversity Survey which tracks progress to boost diversity and inclusion in the UK’s music industry with a focus on those who work behind the scenes in the industry, rather than those who are on stage.  Led by their Diversity Taskforce, the survey collates data from across the music business including studios, management agencies, music publishers, major and independent record labels, music licensing companies and, of course, the live music sector.

Launched in 2016, the findings of the survey give the music industry, Government and other stakeholders a critical insight into where improvements are needed regarding diversity and inclusion – and highlights where positive change is already under way.  To get the most accurate picture of the diversity of the industry we need everyone working in our sector to complete this survey.  By using this dedicated LIVE link we will have access to a bespoke cut of the data.  As a reminder the findings from the last survey can be seen here.  Closing date for this survey is Thursday 29 February and, for the first time, all participants will be in with a chance to win one of five £100 vouchers to spend at Prezzee!

IoL Chair: Could it be you?

The Institute of Licensing (IoL) is looking for its next National Chair to help take their work and organisation to the next level. The IoL is the professional body for licensing practitioners across the UK representing circa 5,000 licensing practitioners from local government, police, industry and private practice.  LIVE CEO, Jon Collins sits on the IoL Board and has seen firsthand the great work the organisation does to foster a spirit of partnership and a licensing environment that sees good operators thrive. 

This is an exciting time for the IoL with a growth agenda which includes increased engagement on all levels alongside continued development of professional qualifications and career pathways.  The new Chair will represent the IoL with a clear understanding of the IoL’s broad church and neutral, non-lobbying position.  The Chair must impartially represent the sometimes diverging views and interests of Board members and the IoL’s wider membership. The ideal candidate will be an experienced chair with previous experience of running an organisation, charity and/or significant business, a notable figure with connections to licensing, a keen understanding of the power in partnerships and collaboration and good business acumen.  For further information contact the IoL’s Executive Officer Sue Nelson.

Crowd Behaviour: UKCMA wants your thoughts

As LIVE’s recent audience research highlighted, crowd behaviours are somewhat different post-lockdown.  Given this dynamic is very much a key focus of the UK Crowd Management Association, LIVE is grateful that they are, once again, leading a collaborative effort across a number of associations and stakeholders to better understand changing crowd behaviours at events and venues in the UK.  If you have thoughts on this topic, we would appreciate it if you could take a few moments to complete the survey here by 31st January.  Please note that this is intended as an industry survey and not as a public survey. We look forward to sharing the results in due course.