Arts Council ‘too posh for pop’ as funds go elsewhere

THE Arts Council is spending too much money on “posh” opera and giving other music genres a raw deal, a leading figure in the British music industry has warned.

For every £1 awarded to pop music, £8 goes to opera companies – a situation that is “manifestly unjust”, according to UK Music, the umbrella organisation that represents the commercial music industry.

Over the next five years, opera will receive grants totalling more than £228million via the Arts Council’s National Portfolio, with classical music receiving £85million.

Pop music will receive around £28 million, while jazz, world music, folk, brass band and choral organisations are further down the scale.

Michael Dugher, the former Labour MP and chief executive of UK Music, described the allocation of funds as “indefensible” and called for an urgent review. He said: “The Arts Council risks giving the impression that it is elitist and too posh for pop. Public funds should be used to broaden the appeal of the arts, particularly among the young, and make every aspect of our fantastic culture more inclusive.”

However, his comments got short shrift from opera companies. Michael Volpe, general director of Holland Park Opera, said: “Opera companies get a lot of money, perhaps more than they ought to, and that’s an ongoing argument. But pop has access to regular, prime-time radio and television in a way that no other art form does, not to mention global media companies promoting it endlessly. Kids are exposed to it every minute of every day.”

Volpe recently introduced a group of inner city London teenagers to opera in a film, Hip Hop to Opera, currently available on BBC iplayer.

He said: “I’ve been hearing the word ‘posh’ in relation to opera for 30 years. Very few people in opera are posh – certainly not the performers.

“This is a simply a case of Mr Dugher not knowing what he’s talking about. He’s the latest in a long line of people presuming to tell everyone that opera is not for them.”

An Arts Council spokesman said UK Music’s figures only covered grants awarded via its National Portfolio and did not include spending on cultural education.