‘Keep the music alive’
ARTISTS CALL FOR SUPPORT FOR LIVE EVENTS
Business Editor
SOME of the biggest names in North East music – including Sting, Little Mix and Cheryl – have joined an urgent call for Government action to prevent the end of the UK’s “world-leading” live music industry.
The open letter addressed to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden says that, with concerts and festivals unlikely to return until 2021 at the earliest, the industry is at imminent risk of suffering “mass insolvencies”.
Sting, Little Mix, Mark Knopfler, Cheryl, Sam Fender, the Lighthouse Family and James Arthur are among those signing the letter, which follows a similar plea from grassroots music venues calling from Government support to help sites that have been unable to open during the coronavirus lockdown.
Many of the artists were due to perform at festivals this summer, including Glastonbury, All Points East, Parklife and TRNSMT, with all events either called off or taken online.
In the joint letter, the artists say: “UK live music has been one of the UK’s biggest social, cultural, and economic successes of the past decade.
“But, with no end to social distancing in sight or financial support from government yet agreed, the future for concerts and festivals and the hundreds of thousands of people who work in them looks bleak.
“Until these businesses can operate again, which is likely to be 2021 at the earliest, government support will be crucial to prevent mass insolvencies and the end of this world-leading industry.”
Research carried out by Media Insight Consulting in June 2020 and published alongside the letter indicated the industry supports 210,000 jobs across the country, while venues, concerts, festivals and production companies added £4.5bn to the economy in 2019. The letter asks for a clear, conditional timeline for reopening venues without social distancing, a comprehensive business and employment support package, and VAT exemption on ticket sales.
It follows a similar call from a collective of music venues around the UK which included the Boiler Shop and the Cluny among 15 in the North East.
A Government spokeswoman said: “We are already providing unprecedented financial assistance which many music organisations and artists have taken advantage of such as loans and the job retention scheme and we continue to look at additional support we can provide the industry.”