Blow to live music events

LIVE music has been dealt a ‘catastrophic blow’ by yesterday’s delay to the roadmap, an industry head has said.

UK Music chief executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin said postponing the sector’s reopening could mean thousands of job losses and cancellation of hundreds of live events.

Around 5,000 shows could be cancelled at a cost of £500,000 and may mean a second consecutive summer with no live music festivals. He added it provides ‘crystal clear evidence of the urgent need for a Government-backed insurance scheme’.

Mr Njoku-Goodwin said: ‘This delay is particularly disappointing because of the lengths to which the music industry has gone to reduce the risk of transmission and develop effective safe working protocols.’

He highlighted the recent pilot events which resulted in just a handful of Covid cases among the 58,000 who attended.