11.02.2026: Members of the House of Lords came together to back calls for studios to receive business rate relief following soaring costs in a debate on Tuesday (February 10).

The Parliamentary debate was brought forward by longstanding All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music member Lord Clement-Jones in response to the Government’s Non-Domestic Ratings (Definition of Qualifying Retail, Hospitality or Leisure Hereditament) Regulations 2025.

The regulations have received criticism for excluding recording studios from business rate relief, with the House of Lords Secondary Legislation Committee recommending that the government look again at the issue following representations by UK Music and its members including the Music Producers Guild.

Lord Clement-Jones’ debate was secured followed further representations by UK Music to Parliamentarians.

Lord Clement-Jones told peers: “By drawing the lines of eligibility too narrowly, these regulations inadvertently exclude the engine room of our £8 billion music industry and the R&D hubs of our visual arts sector, threatening the very existence of the UK’s grass-roots creative infrastructure.”

The Lib Dem peer added: “The Music Producers Guild has provided alarming evidence that 50% of studios surveyed are considering closure within the next year.

“These businesses operate on ultra-thin margins, often requiring 85% occupancy just to break even. They compete in a global market. If it becomes too expensive to record here, artists will simply move to eastern Europe or the United States.

“We are already seeing top UK artists recording major projects abroad. The urgency cannot be overstated.”

Lord Watson of Wyre Forest, who declared his interest as UK Music’s Chair,  said there was an “economic inconsistency” in the Government’s failure to include studios in the recently announced business rates support announced for music venues.

Lord Watson said that studios and producers “shape the sound of modern Britain and underpin our global success” as a key part of the jigsaw that makes up the UK’s world leading music industry. 

In the debate, Lord Watson said that studios were “deeply embedded in their local music economies and cultural scenes”. 

Lord Watson said: “Studios face the same pressures as venues, including high energy costs, specialist premises and skilled staff. Supporting one part of the supply chain while excluding another risks distorting behaviour and, over time, pushing recording activity overseas. 

“Secondly, studios act as regional anchors. They sustain skilled employment, support freelancers and help create creative clusters in towns and cities across the country. 

“Thirdly, studios are not peripheral. They are upstream infrastructure. Without studios, there is no recorded music. Without recorded music, there is no touring product. Without touring, there is no export success.

“Britain’s music industry is one of the country’s great success stories. It depends on an ecosystem in which every part matters, from the songwriters to the performer, from the musician to the producer and the studio that brings that work to life. If we value that ecosystem, our tax and rating policies should reflect how it functions. 

“To borrow a lyric from a song recorded by the Korgis at Crescent Studios in early 1980, I say to the Minister (Treasury Secretary Lord Livermore): “Change your heart, look around you”.

“Recording studios are not an optional extra. They are essential cultural and economic infrastructure and our policy should recognise them as such.”

Tom highlighted studios including AIR Studios in London and Habitat Studio in Manchester – and the work of engineers such as UK Music’s Olga FitzRoy, Manon Grandjean, Paul Epworth, Catherine Marks and UK Music director and award-winning producer Cameron Craig. 

The Earl of Clancarty warned: “I hope that this debate will make it very clear how much our recording studios are as much critical creative infrastructure for the music industry as film studios are for the film industry. 

“Yet film studios receive 40% relief on business rates without, of course, needing any public access. The loss of a single recording studio would be tragic, but the loss of possibly up to half of our recording studios would be catastrophic—a tragedy that would be writ large on the music industry.”

Conservative peer Baroness Neville-Rolfe said studios “are an important part of our rich art and cultural heritage” and urged the Government to “reflect carefully” on their approach. 

Speaking for the Government and concluding the debate, Lord Livermore said: “I should stress that recording studios will benefit from transitional relief if they are seeing large bill increases, which caps bill increases next year by between 5% and 30%. 

“I am afraid I cannot commit here to introducing targeted relief, although noble Lords will know that the Government keep all taxes and reliefs under review.”

You can read the full debate here.