24.09.2024: UK Music lined up a brilliant panel to highlight the actions needed from the new Labour government to help the sector grow and to tackle the challenges the music industry faces.

Braving torrential rain in Liverpool, it was standing room only as delegates packed into a room to listen to and ask questions of the panel at UK Music’s fringe meeting at Labour Conference in the Hilton Hotel on Monday.

The panel featured singer-songwriter and campaigner Rebecca Ferguson MBE; Labour MP Sharon Hodgson who has led the campaign in Parliament against rip-off ticketing; Labour MP Alex Sobel, the new co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music; and Michael Eakin OBE, CEO of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Chair of the Liverpool City Region Music Board. 

Chairing the event, UK Music’s Chief Executive Tom Kiehl outlined the success of the UK’s music industry which contributes nearly £7 billion a year to the UK economy. He highlighted the title of the panel event “How Can We Turn a Moment of Political Change Into a Moment Of Change for Our Music Industry?”

Opening the discussion, Sharon Hodgson spoke about her work over the past 14 years tackling the scourge of ticket touts who rip off music fans by reselling tickets at “outrageous” prices on secondary sites like Viagogo – a campaign inspired by the soaring prices faced by Sharon and her daughter in their attempt to secure tickets for Take That’s reunion tour.

Talking about planned Government legislation, Sharon said she had warned Government ministers including Creative Industries Minister Sir Chris Bryant and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds: “You will get the best spin that money can buy about why this won’t work minister, this is a going a step too far” – and colourfully urged them to dismiss such pleas. 

Washington and Gateshead South MP Sharon encouraged everyone to feed into the Competition and Markets Authority investigation into suspected breaches of consumer protection law in the online secondary tickets market – and the Government’s upcoming consultation on tackling ticket abuse. 

She added that data from FanFair Alliance found from one resale site’s listings of mid-sized venues in Liverpool and Leeds that just one or two per cent of listings were from individuals – with touts or traders behind the vast majority of listings. 

Sharon said of secondary ticketing: “This is a multi-million pound industry ripping off consumers, venues and artists – all the people in the supply chain.  The touts suck out millions from sport, theatres, the music industry. If a fan has had to pay £1,000 instead of £100,  that’s one gig they go to instead of ten.”

Leeds Central and Headlingley MP Alex Sobel focussed on some of the many challenges facing music venues, particularly grassroots venues.  He said: “This is the hardest time for grassroots venues, nightclubs and the nighttime economy.”

Alex highlighted the pressures from the threat of development – either in terms of the site being redeveloped or the risk of noise complaints from new neighbours – as well as the rising cost of energy, the rising cost of the venue’s bar and food offer, and the increased cost of touring. 

Alex said the combination of factors meant it was now time for the Government to intervene and support the sector. He cited the recent conclusions of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee in the last Parliament which backed a statutory levy on tickets to raise revenue.

The Leeds MP listed three points that could help the sector’s ecosystem which he would be pushing for locally.   

The first would see venues listed as assets of community value which could allow supporters to step in and buy closure-threatened venues that faced a change of use.  

The second step would be see “Agent of Change” planning guidelines – introduced after a campaign by UK Music and others – rolled out to help support venues against potential noise nuisance complaints on the grounds the music venue pre-dated new housing developments.

The third point would be the introduction of a levy on tickets which would be invested in a fund for venues, but also used to help emerging Leeds artists go on tour. 

Alex said: “Artists and venues are symbiotic.  You don’t have one without the other. So it’s really important we look after both.”

Former X Factor star Rebecca Ferguson focussed her remarks on the efforts to tackling harassment, bullying and discrimination in the music industry and wider creative industries. 

She said that following her “harrowing” experiences after appearing on the show, she had been campaigning for artists, writers and performers in the industry and ensuring their health and wellbeing was put first.

“Sometimes in music we can forget that without the musician and without the writer there is no industry,” said Rebecca. “If you look after your workforce, they will be productive.”

Rebecca also spoke about the huge importance of a new independent body called the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA)  which is being set up to drive up standards in the sector. She called on the Government to support the new body.

Rounding off contributions, Michael Eakin said: “This is a huge industry and it’s not always seen that way. That’s precisely the reason that Mayor (Steve) Rotheram set up the Music Board and commissioned us to position music as a key growth industry and a growth sector in this city.  He recognised the importance of that.”

Michael said touring was one of the areas of concern for the city’s music board, adding: “This is a moment of opportunity for the new government.”

He said: “The EU is the UK’s largest music market. It dwarfs the US for example. For orchestras specifically, touring represents about 20% of our income – 60% of that in 2019 came specifically from touring within the EU.   

“We all know this is a business of really tight margins and the minute you start to affect those income streams, then organisations can go from sustainable to being under real pressure.”

Michael outlined three areas where a practical difference could be made if Government could work with the EU to come up with mutually beneficial arrangements.

These areas should include a bespoke EU/UK waiver for artists and performers to overcome the “sheer bureaucratic nightmare” of organising an EU tour.

The second area would tackle the cost and bureaucracy around carnets – needed for every instrument going into the EU.  Michael said the cost was around £400 per instrument which meant an extra £5,000 for a tour for an orchestra like the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic . He said a cultural exemption for carnets was needed between the EU and UK. 

The third area was the issue of cabotage – trucks used to transport equipment. Michael said the rules meant that if an orchestra did three EU dates it would have to return to the UK and then come back to the EU.  

This meant UK orchestras had to hire EU trucks which could add £30,000 to the cost of an EU tour.  Michael said a mutual agreement for the exemption of vehicles supporting artists and performers in the EU territories would make a “huge difference”. 

Concluding the discussions, Tom Kiehl asked the panel what they would do if they were Culture Secretary for just one day. 

Alex Sobel said he would “wave a magic wand on creator renumeration” and ensure artists were fairly paid by streaming services. 

Sharon Hodgson said assuming it was a given there would be a cap on ticket resales, she would like to see a “culture pupil premium” to help children in state schools get access to arts and culture in the same was as those attending private schools.

Rebecca Ferguson said that in addition to Alex’s point, she would like to see action to deal with the “London hub” of the music industry to see the industry spread outside the capital to diversify and capture more talent. 

Michael Eakin said he would like to see Mayor Steve Rotheram’s plans go ahead for more investment in the music infrastructure of Liverpool, including a major new rehearsal and and education centre.  He also called for major reforms in music education.

Among those who joined the event were former Undertones frontman and campaigner Feargal Sharkey, awarding-winning mixer and former MPG Director Olga FitzRoy, Labour peer and former Shadow Minister for Music Baroness Keeley, Liverpool born musician Michael Aldag as well as representatives from the Music Managers’ Forum (MMF), the BPI, PRS for Music, The Ivors Academy, the Music Publishers Association (MPA) , the Musicians’ Union, Sony, members of the Liverpool City Region Music Board and many others from the worlds of politics and music.