Image Credit: UK Music

The Governing Body For Live Music Shares Document Outlining How To Kickstart Live Industry When It Is Safe To Do So

UK Music today spoke to Government, claiming that the live music industry must be given a “restart date”. In conjunction with this they have released a fully illustrated and in depth strategy of this can be done safely when numbers of cases and deaths are considerably lower. The live music sector is desperate for a revival after it being hit the hardest during the lockdowns and subsequent tier systems. The live music industry has essentially been on pause/limbo since March 2020. 

The report warns that without a proper Covid cancellation insurance that the industry faces the “biggest barrier to major events happening in 2021”. It calls upon the Government to introduce an insurance scheme for live music as it did for the film and TV sector. 

The report is backed by an S.O.S call from UK Music to “Save Our Summer 2021” which is being led online with the hostage #SaveOurSummer2021.

World-leading event organisers (such as Glastonbury) have also called upon the Government for clarity regarding when the live industry can restart. They’re joined by a wave of grassroots venue operators and the music industry’s workforce of almost 200,000. 

Collectively the music industry has worked tirelessly to make event spaces as safe as possible, throughout the summer there were some great social distanced events throughout the country. There have also been testing pilots on safe mass events, working with Government to develop guidelines as well as looking at new ventilation and air purification systems that can dramatically reduce the risk of transmission. Even with all this work though it is still unknown when the industry could hold mass events again, it’s certianly not anytime soon. 

The Governments £1.57 billion Cultural Recovery Fund has been an essential lifeline for many in the industry but it is now essential that the industry can start to plan for the post-pandemic period and peak summer season. 

The music industry as a whole contributes £5.8 billion to the economy and can continue to be a vital instrument to the countries growth when the time is right. However, in the meantime it needs to be supported. 

Without live music many musicians and those involved in the industry will be struggling, a lot of a musicians income is seen through live shows. They too need to have an idea just when they can expect to be earning properly too. 

The Let The Music Play: Save Our Summer 2021 report includes a clear plan for the Government to help the live music sector get back to business as soon as possible. 

The key calls for action in the report are: 

  • A Government-backed reinsurance scheme
  • An indicative date for a full capacity restart
  • Targeted financial support for the sector
  • Extension to the VAT rate reduction on tickets
  • Rollover of the pad 2020 local authority license fees for festivals to 2021
  • Extension to business rates relief

Read the full report here.