08.11.2024: UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl delivered an address to promoters, managers, venue operators and artists from across Bristol’s music industry at the famous Bristol Beacon cultural centre.
The address coincided with the launch of a report pioneered by the Night Time Economy Adviser for Bristol Carly Heath and supported by Bristol City Council and Arts Council England into the feasibility of introducing a Bristol Music Fund.
The case for a Bristol Music Fund responds to a number of challenges across the grassroots music sector, with 125 venues across the UK closing last year and over 60 festivals either cancelled or postponed in the UK in 2024.
The conclusions of the study proposed the adding of a 1% fee on tickets at participating venues and events, which would then be invested in music venues, events and music making across the city, generating up to £1m each year. A survey run by Bristol Nights, the council-run project working on the proposals found 93% of people were in favour of it. The setting up of a Community Benefit Society would be needed to deliver the Fund.
The proposals coincide with a number of discussions ongoing within in the music industry regarding how to best support its struggling grassroots, with discussions around the possible introduction of a contribution on tickets for stadium and arena shows to then be reinvested in venues and artists.
[Pictured from left to right: Ginny Graham (Arts Council England), Carly Heath (Night Time Economy Adviser for Bristol), Tom Kiehl (UK Music) and Ruth Ballantyne (Musicians’ Union)]
In his address, Tom described the outcome of the Bristol Music Fund feasibility study as “very complementary to much of the discussions that are taking place across the music industry” and that the report “recognises the challenges that are being faced, provides powerful evidence about the proof of concept regarding additional contributions through tickets and seeks innovative local led solutions.”
As the Bristol music industry now considers the implications of the report, Tom suggested that the best next step was for the local sector to “find alignment, agreement and a way forward” on the big challenges it faces.
In addition to the Bristol Music Fund, Tom used his remarks to highlight UK Music’s past work with Bristol, which included choosing the city to run the first ever live music census back in 2015, and highlight The Music Powerhouses Toolkit: A Guide For Towns, Cities and Regions, contained in UK Music’s Here, There and Everywhere report from 2023 which you can read here.
The Bristol Music Fund Feasibility Study is available here.
Tom’s full speech, as delivered at the event, is below:
Good evening and thank you for inviting me to speak to you. My name is Tom Kiehl and I am Chief Executive of UK Music. My organisation brings together the UK music industry as its collective voice. We collaborate, champion and campaign on behalf of the sector to ensure the music industry can continue to grow. We want to unlock talent across the country and work closely with central and local government, as well as Parliament to achieve these aims.
UK Music is made up of 10 member organisations. Some of them you may have heard of, some of them you may have not. Together they reflect key component parts of the music industry, ranging from record companies and music publishers, licensing societies and representative creator organisations. We also work closely with the live sector with organisations such as LIVE, Music Venue Trust and Association of Independent Festivals to ensure that the music industry is aligned on all the key issues impacting that part of the music industry too.
It is great to be here today in Bristol. You don’t need me to tell you what a rich, diverse and fantastic local music industry you have. From the sound system culture in the late 1970s and 1980s, bringing together communities across the city through hip hop, reggae, funk and creating its own unique styles and genres, such as the Bristol sound and trip hop.
Artists and bands coming from Bristol – Portishead, Massive Attack, Tricky, Roni Size, Idles – have continually pushed boundaries and contributed greatly to the global identity of the UK music industry.
However, Bristol’s success is not just about the artists that you have nurtured and developed. It is also about the many brilliant venues and festivals which give Bristol the vibrancy it is well known for, from Bristol Beacon, Lakota, the Fleece, the Louisiana and Thekla to mention a few.
UK Music has long taken an interest in the Bristol music industry and has been involved in a number of initiatives over the years to support the local sector.
Just under a decade ago, UK Music chose Bristol to conduct the first ever live music census. The results revealed that the live music in 2015 generated over £123 million to the local Bristol economy, supporting almost 1,000 jobs. If we were to do this project again today, we would take a much broader look at the types of venues classified.
My predecessors as CEO, Michael Dugher and Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, also visited Bristol to support initiatives that were being taken forward here. We also played a key role in ensuring the “agent of change” principle was introduced to the National Planning Policy Framework in 2018. This was motivated largely by the particular challenges and situation faced by venues in Bristol situated next to new developments.
I was therefore delighted to build on UK Music’s past commitments to Bristol and accept the invitation from Carly Heath, Bristol’s first Night Time Economy Advisor, to speak to you today to tell you a bit more about what we do and why local music industries need to come together and work collaboratively to develop local solutions.
The music industry as a whole is currently worth £6.7 billion to the economy, generates exports of £4 billion and employs over 210,000 people. The industry continues to contribute to economic growth, and it has a profound impact on other parts of the economy too.
An example of this is tourism. The total number of music tourists, either those travelling across the UK or coming from overseas, and attending live music events in 2023 was 19.2 million people. This was an increase of 33%, generating spend of £8 billion, representing 21% growth. In the south west region, which includes Bristol, 2 million music tourists visited last year for concerts and festivals, generating spend of £897 million and supporting 8,680 jobs.
This is all great news for music and the local Bristol sector, but we must not ignore the challenges that we face.
While music generates huge benefits for our local areas, beyond a handful of very successful musicians the opportunities for many artists are becoming increasingly squeezed.
The grassroots music sector is currently at a very fragile point. 125 grassroots music venues across the country closed last year. Over 60 festivals have either been cancelled or postponed in 2024, bringing the estimated total number of festival closures since 2019 to 192.
The situation for some of these cultural spaces could be made worse as a result of the Chancellor’s recent Budget. A failure by the government to reduce the rates of VAT for hospitality last week, and an actual reduction in the business rate relief available could have a devastating impact on the grassroots music sector.
Grassroots music venues and festivals, studios and rehearsal spaces are facing tough economic pressures. It’s vital that the music ecosystem that enables musicians and artists to perform is supported to ensure that everyone – no matter where they live – can have access to music.
There are a lot of serious discussions across the music industry and government at present about how to best secure a sustainable future for the grassroots sector. This includes debate about the introduction of a levy on arena and stadium tickets, which have been backed by the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
UK Music is supportive of further exploration of industry-led solutions, including the potential formation of sector body led trusts to distribute any agreed levy. We have also called for a significant proportion of the levy to go towards artists to help stimulate activity.
The Bristol Music Fund Feasibility Study, which we will hear about in more detail from Carly later, and many of the questions that it has sought to address, are therefore very complementary to much of the discussions that are taking place across the music industry in other parts of the country at present.
The Study recognises the challenges that are being faced, provides powerful evidence about the proof of concept regarding additional contributions through tickets and seeks innovative local led solutions. This is all to be welcomed, and I urge the local Bristol music sector to come together and to seek to find alignment, agreement and a way forward on the big challenges that you face.
Before I finish speaking to you all, I would like to highlight some specific recommendations that UK Music has made to local authorities and music industries in recent years. This outlines how communities can utilise existing funding and how spaces can help music thrive across the UK.
Contained with UK Music’s Here, There and Everywhere report from last year, our “The Music Powerhouses Toolkit: A Guide For Towns, Cities and Regions” includes four recommendations for local councils on how to build their own music communities.
Firstly, we ask local authorities to use data to ensure music is at the heart of planning and licensing policy.
Secondly, authorities should create a register of available spaces and places to support music activities.
Thirdly, councils should enshrine music and the local community in regeneration and development plans.
Finally, local authorities should set up or support city-wide music advisory boards.
Over the past 10 years we have seen great initiatives in London, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and across Yorkshire where local authorities and the music sector have come together to provide solutions.
The appointment of Carly Heath as Bristol’s first Night Time Economy Advisor in April 2021 is also a great example of this, providing a pivotal role between night time operatives and local government, with Bristol Nights having a clear focus on collaborative working around essential issues.
As we look back on 2024, I firmly see this as a pivotal moment for the UK music industry, one where political change in all its manifestations has provided great opportunity to reset relationships as we embark on tackling the big issues – whether its venue closures, festival cancellations, the threat of artificial intelligence, overcoming the obstacles of Brexit or broadening access to music education and opportunity.
I would like to wish you all well for tonight, and look forward to participating in the further discussions and debates this evening. Thank you again for inviting me to speak tonight.