Live Music

My Lords, I start by drawing the House’s attention to my declaration in the register of interests, including my membership of the Musicians’ Union and the Ivors Academy. It will not surprise a number of colleagues here that I will take this opportunity of a debate about live music to talk and plug my fan-led review of live and electronic music, which came out earlier this year. I was commissioned by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee of the House of Commons, and it was a pleasure to be able to speak to music fans in conferences, round tables, venues, clubs and festivals right across the UK. I know the House is very familiar with some of the facts about the contribution of music to our economy and with the fact that, as outlined in my review, the live sector in 2024 was worth £6.7 billion to the UK economy. One fine example of that from my own part of the world is the Green Man festival in Wales, which takes place in August. It is a proudly independent festival, run by the remarkable Fiona Stewart, who was recently profiled in the Times, and it sells out each year in half an hour, without anybody even knowing who is going to be playing at the festival the following year. It contributes £28 million to the Welsh economy, as well as doing great work in the community through the Green Man Trust, its charitable arm. I think that is proof positive that what music fans want to maintain is that independent spirit in an ever more corporate world, and that came through very strongly in my fan-led review. I hope my noble friend the Minister will take this in the best possible spirit, but I do not want this to be a review that gathers dust on a shelf somewhere in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. I want the Government to go through it, and when they come back to appear in front of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in the Commons—I believe I might also be making an appearance in that time—I would like to hear very positive responses to the bits of the report that are recommendations for the UK Government. The report contains recommendations for the industry and for local authorities, but it also contains recommendations for the UK Government, and I hope they will take it on board. I am as aware as anyone that, when you change the lead singer in your band, it does not always go well. But I have been encouraged so far by some of the mood music that is around politically in relation perhaps to a change in the Administration, in government, as to the Government’s approach to music. It has always been positive, but I hope very much that I detect something else in the air now that we are getting a new lead singer, and I hope that means my report will very much be taken to heart by the Government. It contains what I call the seven essentials of live. The first is celebration. We should celebrate the incredible contribution that live music and electronic music make to our economy and culture—not just as a money-making exercise but as a public good in and of itself. There is growing evidence of how live music contributes to our well-being in this world of screens, social media and so on. It is something very special and that came across powerfully in the review. The second essential was around ticketing. A number of us were slightly disappointed that the Government published a draft Bill rather than an actual Bill in relation to the King’s Speech proposals to tackle the issues around secondary ticketing. I hope that that will be given greater priority as we go forward. Fans are crying out for action to be taken around secondary ticketing and on ensuring that anti-competitive forces in the primary ticketing market are not taking hold and driving up prices unnecessarily for fans—or adopting practices such as surge pricing in the music industry world. The third of the seven essentials is about the importance of the grass-roots music scene to the live music sector in this country—not just as the research and development of the music industry, bringing forward pipeline of talent for the next generation of great musicians that this country will produce but as something that is a good in itself. The grass-roots music scene is very important in and of itself, even for those who will never become the great megastars of the future. One of my recommendations in the report that the Government could take on board in its ticketing legislation, if it is just a draft Bill, concerns the live levy that has been introduced. It was introduced for larger venues such as stadiums and arenas to contribute a small amount of the ticket price on a voluntary basis to support the grass-roots music scene, which fundamentally holds up the whole system. That could be made a statutory levy if it is shown that the voluntary levy was not working. The Government have committed previously that if it is not getting to a level of 50% by this summer, they will look at it. I strongly urge them to look very closely at the statistics to see what is happening with the voluntary levy. Is it working on a voluntary basis? Are the big players putting their hands in their pockets and making their contributions? If not, the Government should live up to their word and make it a statutory levy. The fourth of the seven essentials of live is about safety. There are several recommendations in my report for the UK Government, including asking them to develop a new level of accreditation for security staff at live venues. The fifth is around accessibility. Some venues, as I found in undertaking this review, have excellent accessibility credentials and facilities, but it is too patchy across the sector. Fans report very different experiences from time to time at different venues. One of my recommendations is that the UK Government could help to develop a disability access kitemark for live music venues. The sixth essential is transport. Lots of cities around the country now call themselves music cities, but can you get a bus home at the end of the gig? You cannot be a music city if people cannot get home at the end of the gig. The report calls for the Government to lead research into economy mobility gaps between cities, towns and rural communities and for local government to do its bit around transport to make sure that you can get a bus at the end of the gig. The final of the seven essentials is about giving music fans a real voice. Too often, their voice is not listened to and is not heard. It asks the Government to start a seed fund with the industry to set up a music fans association in line with the Football Supporters’ Association, which has been very successful in getting football fans’ voices heard, and to commission an annual survey. I know that this is a very popular subject and wish that we had longer. However, I ask the Minister to take on board everything within my fan-led review and respond in kind positively, if not now, then when the Minister—whoever the Minister is—appears before the Select Committee in September.

My Lords, I will focus on the cultural importance of live music, which can enrich the lives of us all. The response to the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, shows that there is feeling around the House on just that. It supports artistic expression, preserves musical heritage and strengthens communities. Live events showcase artists from different backgrounds and cultures, promoting inclusion and cultural exchange. Does the Minister agree that charities are vital in protecting and promoting opportunities to take part in producing live music or simply to enjoy it? Charities such as the LIVE Trust raises funds via voluntary ticket contributions to fund grass-roots music events and venues. Music for All provides grants and instruments to disadvantaged communities to ensure that everyone has the chance to participate in and experience live music. Youth Music invests in hundreds of grass-roots music projects, helping marginalised young people to learn about music production, singing and live performance. Government can play a role in supporting the development of live music. In creating the Every Child Can fund for 2024-28, the Government pledged that they would work with the National Lottery Community Fund, young people and youth organisations to ensure that the monies would be spent in a way that reflected the priorities of young people to make, perform and produce music. What assessment have the Government made of the progress that has been achieved over the past two years by the Every Child Can fund”?

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, on an excellent speech. In policy terms, the guidance provided for culture as an area of competence for the mayoral strategic authorities—we discussed this at length during the passage of the devolution Bill—is that it needs to be a consultation from the bottom up. The DCMS and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government are, I hope, coming together on this. Every level of government should be involved, as well as stakeholders such as live music venues. I ask the Minister to confirm that. The danger with a larger governmental body will be rationalisation of assets. On community assets, I applaud the Government’s intention explicitly to include cultural assets within that grouping, although I would still prefer them to have their own designation—as the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, asked for on another occasion. I welcome the £61 million the Government have set aside for that scheme, but I am disappointed that there was no reference to cultural assets in the recent announcement. It is important that local authorities and the public are fully aware that cultural assets are covered by this scheme, and the guidance clearly states this, with pertinent examples such as live music clubs and recording studios. I am grateful to the Musicians’ Union for its briefing on the risk to live music in theatres. The disbanding of the RSC’s music department earlier this year is an unwelcome sign of the times; costs are cited and it is all too easy to replace real musicians with sophisticated software, which has its place in music but can never be a substitute for live music. I ask the Minister what thought the Government have given to those concerns. Finally, European Movement UK calculates that over 25% of British musicians have lost all their work in the EU since Brexit, with average tour earnings down by 45%. In reality, nothing substantial to improve matters has happened in the last two years. With the cancellation of the 22 July UK-EU summit, when will this be discussed and resolved?

My Lords, I too congratulate my noble friend on an excellent opening speech. My focus today is on the pipeline of musicians and the music teachers needed to train them—a pipeline damaged by young people’s lack of access to music in state schools. Our Labour Government inherited an education system where music had been squeezed out of the curriculum by the EBacc, which, from 2010, incentivised schools to focus on subjects excluding music and arts. This damaged music teacher recruitment and the take-up of music at A-level and GCSE. A-level music remains in crisis. Only 4,635 students took it this year—a record low, down 41% since 2013. GCSE music entries are around 27% down since 2010. Music teacher training and recruitment have fallen by around 51% since 2010-11 and it remains a shortage subject. Even last year’s welcome rise in the number of trainees came with a warning: the number of music teachers with no relevant qualification beyond A-level rose by 10% in a single year. Teach First found that schools in the poorest areas are three times more likely to lack a trained music teacher, and 17% do not offer music A-level at all—more than triple the rate of schools in the most affluent areas. The Social Mobility Commission found that children from the poorest backgrounds are three times less likely than wealthier pupils to learn an instrument, sing in a choir or play in an orchestra. UK Music has warned that fewer trained teachers and a shrinking A-level cohort are damaging the industry’s talent pipeline. Without music in schools, music in the economy, culture and society will be seriously impacted. This Labour Government have rightly committed to scrapping the EBacc, but now we face the task of rebuilding music education, particularly in state schools in our most deprived areas. I urge my noble friend the Minister to press DfE Ministers to do all they can to reverse this decline we inherited by rebuilding the music teacher workforce and restoring the bursary for music teacher training, so that every young person, whatever their background, has the chance to choose music.

My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, on his epically superb speech. I declare my interest as a trustee of the KOKO Foundation. As all noble Lords know, KOKO is a fantastically cool music venue in Camden. In fact, it was made live music venue of the year. Stemming from my involvement with KOKO, I want to make a point about businesses in general. KOKO has never received a penny of government money. Since its creation, it has created about 10,000 jobs, paid £80 million in taxes and helped the regeneration of the area. But the recent increase in NI means that KOKO now has to attract 4,000 additional customers a week in order to meet its NI bill. At the same time, KOKO has set aside £500,000 for the foundation to help local people; it works with the Department for Business and Trade in welcoming foreign Governments to look at hospitality; and it has helped in many other ways. My point is more general: every time the Government impose taxes on business, they are harming or impacting venues such as KOKO. Everybody knows the importance of live music. The recent Harry Styles tour, for example, generated about £1.1 billion in revenue beyond the actual events. However, we cannot be complacent about the success of the major live music industry in the UK. We did not go ahead with the Sphere—that was nothing to do with this Government—but the London fireworks are falling behind. Major countries in the world see live music and events as central to diversifying their economy. It is incumbent on the Government and on local government to work more closely with the private sector. I echo the points that have already been made about secondary ticketing and flag the point about visas for musicians, which is becoming a particularly thorny issue for many involved in the live music business.