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The Hub presents results of #VoteForMusic campaign at CMU Insights @ The Great Escape
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 15 May 2015
Day two of CMU Insights @ The Great Escape kicked off this morning with the #VoteForMusic keynote, which saw TGE co-founder Martin Elbourne, Cooking Vinyl’s Martin Goldschmidt, Yellowbrick Music’s Meredith Cork and Dan Le Sac delivering speeches outlining what they would like the new government to do for music and the music industry.
Also presented were the results of a previously reported pre-election survey carried out by music development organisation The Hub, which asked the wider music community what music-related issues they would like the new government to tackle. And the top priority for David Cameron and his buddies, the survey found, are: music education, live music funding, tax reliefs and investment, and rules stopping a single noise complaint from closing down venues.
Or, more specifically:
• Re-introduce music as a mandatory part of the school curriculum and to not cut central government funding for music education.
• Protect funding for live music, particularly at a grassroots level, to help underpin the UK’s position as a major player in the global music market, and the economic contribution music makes to the UK economy.
• Introduce into law the ‘agent of change’ principle, meaning that music venues would no longer have to spend thousands of pounds fighting off noise complaints, abatement notices and planning applications.
• Introduce new tax reliefs to the wider music industry, and either cut VAT on ticket sales or re-invest in the sector the VAT received on these.
Speaking about the campaign, The Hub’s Director Julia Payne said: “#VoteForMusic did what it said on the tin, giving music fans, musicians and other industry professionals – real people, who care about music – the chance to tell the new government what measures they want them to take to support the UK’s music sector. People have spoken, and the results we hope will help inform what the government chooses to prioritise as it makes its spending plans and looks at its legislative timetable”.
Great Escape Director Kat Morris added: “The Great Escape spotlights great new music from the UK. We know that the music industry contributed £3.8 billion to the UK economy last year, and just looking at the new artists playing the festival, we know that the future is looking good too. But we need a framework, and that’s where government can help. That’s why we backed #VoteForMusic; it gave fans, musicians and others in music a chance to have their say”.
The debate will continue with a Hub-hosted event at Cecil Sharp House in London on 1 Jul, which will see Arts Council Chair Peter Bazalgette and representatives of the music industry discuss the results of the #VoteForMusic survey with senior Conservative and Labour politicians. Find out more about how you can attend here.
