LIVE Awards: Shortlist Announced 

As excitement builds ahead of the third annual LIVE Awards, which will take place in association with Skiddle on Wednesday 11th December at Troxy, East London, LIVE has announced its category finalists for 2024. Chosen by a panel of industry experts the shortlists cover all sectors of live music, recognising and celebrating individuals and organisations who have made a significant impact during the last 12 months.

Gaby Cartwright, LIVE’s Head of Partnerships and producer of the LIVE Awards said, “This year’s shortlists are incredibly strong and represent the amazing work that individuals and companies have done over the last year. The LIVE Awards is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our sector’s achievements and to applaud the excellent work being carried out across the whole industry.”

Limited tables and individual seats for the awards are still available and include a welcome drinks reception, dinner with wine and petit fours, two hours of complimentary drinks, and an afterparty that goes on into the early hours. As LIVE’s primary annual fundraising event, all proceeds from the awards will directly support our work engaging government on a range of sector critical issues, help support our members to meet their sustainability goals and foster a more diverse, equitable and inclusive working environment.

Black Lives in Music (BLiM) Announce: Anti-Racism Code Of Conduct 

Black Lives in Music is spearheading transformative change with the launch of their groundbreaking Anti-Racism Code of Conduct. This game-changing initiative is poised to reshape the music industry, creating a future where equity is the standard.

Endorsed by CIISA, BLiM’s internationally acclaimed Anti-Racism Code of Conduct is set to become the definitive framework for driving impactful change across the industry. Commenting on the code, LIVE’s CEO, Jon Collins said, “We all understand the powerful, positive role that music plays in our society and how live music, in particular, delivers wonderful, uniting communal experiences. However, too often the opportunity to build those experiences is reduced or removed by racism in our systems and processes. From informality in how we recruit and retain to racial inequalities in licensing there is still much to be done.

Data is vital to informed decision making, shaping new policies and procedures and measuring our progress. EquiTrack will provide the platform to allow us all to assess the steps required to take and measure our progress. LIVE is strengthened by its work with Black Lives in Music and we are committed to being a truly anti-racist organisation across all our work. Together we can continue to make progress and deliver positive change”.

LIVE Heading to Parliament to Give Evidence on Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill had its Second Reading debate in the House of Commons on Monday 14 October and has now been sent to a Public Bill Committee, which will scrutinise the Bill. LIVE CEO, Jon Collins has been invited to give oral evidence to the Committee and, while we fully support the purpose of the Bill to ensure people at public premises and events are protected, we will be raising some issues which risk not fulfilling that purpose and negatively impacting the UK’s live music sector.

Areas where we feel the Bill would benefit from review and amendment, include clarity about who has responsibility for public spaces around live events, the potential challenges caused by any conflict with licensing, addressing the lack of consideration for festivals and the arbitrary penalty scheme. It is crucial that the Bill is workable for all, does not disproportionately impact the UK’s live music sector, ensures good value for money to the state, and crucially, delivers greater reassurance and safety for concertgoers.

As ever, LIVE would like to remind everyone that the provisions of this Bill, also known as Martyn’s Law or Protect Duty, will not go live until mid-2027 at the earliest. As such, while safety and security will always be an important consideration in how venues and festivals are run, specific licence conditions requiring compliance to this legislation are unenforceable for the next two years or more.

LIVE Green Clauses Hit the Right Note for a Sustainable Live Music Sector

LIVE Green, led by Carol Scott, the Principal Sustainability Advocate at TAIT and Ross Patel, LIVE Greens Impact Consultant, crowned two years of expert work to produce a groundbreaking sustainability initiative in the form of a contractual clause template for artists booking contracts, designed to galvanise industry-wide action and transform the environmental impact of live events.

The clauses aim to foster widespread, lasting cultural change within the industry by accelerating the conversation around sustainability between every party involved in artist performance booking. They focus on key action areas of; waste, energy, water, food, merchandise and audience travel to make live music more sustainable. They include contributions from a cross industry stakeholder group which included promoters, agents, artists, managers, venues, festivals, sustainability consultants, production company representatives and more.

Alongside the clause template, LIVE Green has also created a LIVE Green Resource Hub, designed to respond to the content of the clauses, which highlights considerations for addressing each aspect of the clauses, as well as further resource and guidance from sustainability experts in the industry to help all stakeholders in the live sector progress their sustainability efforts.

LIVE Talks: From Melas to Stadiums: Exploring Opportunities within South Asian Live Music hosted by Sania Haq (Founder, Bye 2 Stereotypes)

The LIVE Talks programme goes from strength to strength, with the latest edition focusing on South Asian live music and its impact (and potential impact) from grassroots to Glastonbury. Attendees at this week’s talk benefited from a wealth of insight from Sania Haq, with an in-depth exploration of the South Asian live music landscape in the UK and an examination of the challenges faced by artists and event organisers within this vibrant yet complex scene.

As with all LIVE Talks, you can watch again at the LIVE Talks archive. Thanks, as ever to our committed partners for their indispensable support: AEG Europe, the Royal Albert Hall, O2 Arena, Skiddle, Ovo Hydro, See Tickets, Kilimanjaro, Live Nation, and SJM.

Industrial Strategy Highlights Importance of Creative Industries

A centrepiece of the new Government’s plans to grow the UK economy is the development of a new industrial strategy to create long-term, inclusive, secure and sustainable growth. Launching a consultation on their plans, the Government noted that the creative industries (and live music within it) are one of eight key economic verticals for driving growth.
To enable growth in the sector, the Government plans to leverage our global comparative advantages by unlocking private investment, boosting exports, and developing the right skills for our workforce.

The Government also recognises the need to ensure that the UK sector remains globally competitive as a home for world class talent while maximising access to important markets to tour and collaborate. It recognises that we can bring joy and economic gains to communities across the regions and nations of the UK. LIVE will be responding to the consultation and working with officials to maximise live music’s potential. The final industrial strategy will be published in spring 2025, you can learn more here.