26/03/18: UK Music’s chief executive Michael Dugher has appeared on Sky News talking about the threat Brexit poses to the music industry.

_{Chief Executive Michael Dugher} 

Michael told Sky News presenter Niall Paterson that it was the ‘most complex game of multi-dimensional chess that we’ve seen’ and that the industry was ‘hugely concerned’ about Brexit.

He said: “We did a survey recently on musicians and composers and a whole bunch of people in the industry, and we found that only two per cent felt that Brexit would be a positive from their point of view.

“I have to tell you that we’ve not yet found that two per cent, and if you find them before us then please let us know.

“More than 50 per cent, as you would imagine, said that they were hugely concerned that Brexit would have a negative impact.

“I think that does reflect some of these challenges and fears that people have about how difficult it will be once Britain leaves the EU.

“We’re a year away and I suppose we’re still none the wiser.

“Brexit is probably the most high-profile, public, and complex game of multi-dimensional chess that we’ve seen.

“It’s a very public negotiation, we’ve just got to ensure that the music industry makes its voice loud and clear in terms of the impact which Brexit could have and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

The six-minute package, which screened on Sunday, also featured legendary Undertones frontman and ex-UK Music CEO Feargal Sharkey, who warned: “I have watched road crew on their hands and knees at the back of the stage after a gig picking up broken drumsticks and curling up guitar strings into little packets, because the rules were, if you said on the paperwork you’d taken 400 drumsticks out of the country you’d better bring them all back – even if they were all broken.

“I have stood and watched them steam with fury whilst some belligerent bureaucrat made them unload a 40-foot arctic trailer to count the number of speakers.

“Do we really want to go back to that?”

Singer-songwriter Emily Barker, who also featured in the piece, added: “I’m very concerned about how expensive visas could potentially be for each territory, as well as the bureaucracy involved and how long it would take.”

You can see the full package here.