11/07/18: The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music held its AGM on 10 July and re-elected officers for the Group for another term.

_{The APPG on Music at their AGM on Tuesday}

The APPG brings together a cross-party group of Parliamentarians with an interest in the music industry. There are currently 91 Parliamentary members of the APPG which acts as a forum between Parliament and industry.

Conservative MP for Somerton and Frome David Warburton was re-elected Chair of the APPG for another year with Labour MP for Leeds North West Alex Sobel and Peer Lord Dave Watts joining a team of 17 officers for the Group. Conservative MP for Morley and Outwood Andrea Jenkyns becomes the new Treasurer of the Group following Mark Pritchard’s decision to stand down. A full list of the officers of the group is below.

Following formal business, the APPG heard from Suzanne Bull (CEO) and Ailsa McWilliam (Director of Operations) from disability led charity Attitude is Everything. The charity works in partnership with audiences, artists and the industry to improve Deaf and disabled people’s access to live music.

Suzanne and Alisa reported on the charity’s recent State of Access 2018 report which highlighted 82 per cent of Deaf and disabled gig goers experience problems when booking access to live music events. Attitude is Everything also informed MPs and Peers present about the development of the Ticketing Without Barriers Coalition, which is designed to bring industry together to work towards a unified vision for facilitating access booking for Deaf and disabled people.

During the meeting, APPG members present raised further issues with Suzanne and Ailsa relating to access. This included issues with licensing authorities, different experiences between grassroots and smaller music venues, whether there is ever resistance from venues and expectations from audience members.

The meeting was attended by David Warburton MP, Rupa Huq MP, Mark Tami MP, David Lammy MP, Paul Williams MP, Pete Wishart MP, Lord Tim Clement-Jones, Mike Gapes MP, Conor McGinn MP, Chris Matheson MP, Lord David Watts, John Spellar MP and Luciana Berger MP, as well as a number of representatives from the music industry.