Tuesday 22nd September 2009 - The Basement, MCPS-PRS Alliance
The latest event from the University of Westminster’s music business think tank MusicTank will examine the effects the Licensing Act 2003 has had on the grassroots live music industry, with Chairman of the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee John Whittingdale already confirmed to keynote the think tank double header.
Whittingdale has been at the forefront of the growing voice demanding changes to the Licensing Act to exempt small venues for their requirements as well as fronting the opposition to the controversial Form 696, which has been widely used by the Metropolitan Police and has been recommended to forces across the UK.
In July the government ignored Whittingdale’s recommendations; this event will get the reasons behind the call for change, and the reasons behind the resistance to it.
Also in the event - entitled Live Music: Licensed To Thrill? - MusicTank will investigate the use of noise abatement orders and their impact on small venues across the UK. Following MusicTank’s August newsletter editorial examining the effect their use has had in Birmingham, there has been a flurry of other stories from other parts of the UK as well as a response from Australia, where the music sector has campaigned to help venues in similar situations to the noise abatement order effected locations across the UK.
The editorial focused on the issues faced particularly in Birmingham, where the Digbeth area of the city – home to Supersonic Festival, GodsKitchen owned nightclub AIR, Birmingham Barfly and almost countless small grassroots venues – has had a number of live venues curtailed by noise abatement orders. The most recent of these venues, The Rainbow, heavily relies of music concerts to get by, and has had plans to install a £30,000 soundproof roof hampered by their noise abatement order. The landlord of The Rainbow, Kent Davis, will also be addressing the event, giving a frontline view on the issues caused by noise abatement orders and the Licensing Act.
The event will be chaired by MusicTank Chairman Keith Harris, more panellists will be confirmed soon. The format of the event is:
18.30 – 18.35: Introduction by Keith Harris
18.35 – 19.40: The Licensing Act and Form 696: What are the issues?
Keynote: John Wittingdale, Chairman, Culture Media and Sport Select Committee
19.40 – 20.10: Break
20.10 - 21.15: Noise Abatement Orders
Keynote: Kent Davis, Landlord, The Rainbow, Birmingham
Event Details:
Date: Tuesday 22nd September 2009
Time: 18.30 - 21.15 hrs
Venue: The Basement, MCPS-PRS Alliance
Location: 29-33 Berners Street, London, W1T 3AB.
Nearest Tube is Goodge St. (Northern Line), Alliance is at Mortimer St end of Berners St.
Price: £35 standard, £25 MusicTank Members, £30 trade body members (AIM, BACS, BPI, MMF, MPG, MPA, MU, PRS For Music, PPL)
Price includes complimentary drink on arrival, and post-event transcript
All places MUST be booked and paid for in advance via www.musictank.co.uk
Event Copy:
Live Music: Licensed To Thrill?
The live music business is in rude health. Despite the recession, record numbers of people are attending gigs, and last year revenues from live music overtook those from record sales, with £1.39billion generated from live music – up 16% on 2007 – whilst record sales revenue fell 6% to £1.309billion.[1]
But it is strong roots that facilitate success further up the chain, and not all is rosy at the grassroots of our live music industry. In July the government rejected widely supported recommendations from the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee regarding changes to the Licensing Act of 2003, including exemptions for small venues and, as highlighted in MusicTank’s July editorial (http://www.musictank.co.uk/newsletters/july-09/view), noise abatement orders are having a destructive impact on small venues across the UK.
This session will investigate the impact that the Licensing Act and noise abatement orders are having on small venues and music performers - we shall also hear from those who support the measures that are in place.
Noise is a massive issue for residents local to music venues. Nobody, let alone those with a young family, wants to be kept up at all hours by loud music in the club across the street. Some say that the venue should go, others say the residents should ‘like it or lump it,’ but, rather than generate a stalemate, the session will explore amicable resolutions that allow residents to get a good night’s sleep, while giving up-and-coming acts the chance to entertain and hone their craft.
In the Digbeth area of Birmingham particularly, noise abatement orders have been a common subject of news and conflict. When the Abacus apartments opened next door to The Spotted Dog, a pub that has put on live music outdoors for over 22 years, three complaints of noise were made and a noise abatement order subsequently issued by Birmingham City Council. This reduced the venue’s ability to continue as a business and robbed residents who had moved into Abacus for the local music scene of a key reason they moved to the area.
More recently, The Rainbow pub, a music venue further down the road in Digbeth, received one complaint before being threatened with a noise abatement order. Despite offering to replace their roof with a £30,000 soundproof top and over 22,000 supporters, the venue was issued with its noise abatement order – constricting its ability to raise the required funds to satisfy the complainant or continue providing an invaluable platform to artists.
Form 696 and the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee’s recommendations to the Licensing Act need less of an introduction. But with the Metropolitan Police recommending the form’s use to other forces across the UK, it seems apt to sensibly highlight the issues the form intends to prevent and the issues it causes and see what concessions can be made.
The form requires promoters at some 100-plus venues in London to provide detailed personal information to police if they want to stage a music event and has come under accusations of racial stereotyping.
UK Music CEO Fergal Sharkey said that Form 696, “is a wholly unnecessary impediment to live music and has become a mandatory licensing condition on more than 70 premises in 21 London boroughs. UK Music has been vocal amongst musicians, civil liberty campaigners and members of the public who want to see this counter-productive and morally questionable risk assessment form scrapped.
“Music is a vital part of all UK culture: we should all celebrating that, free it from bureaucracy and make this country a richer and more vibrant place.”
This is a point that has been supported by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has pinpointed creative industries as a vital part of the British economy, more important than ever in the current recession, saying that, “culture in the UK helps to define and shape and deepen our lives as individuals [and] also makes a significant contribution to our nation’s prosperity.”
This statement is backed up by the figures: music in London alone puts in excess of £1 billion into the UK economy[2] and the government has pledged to increase the number of jobs in the industry too, with music industry jobs being part of a £1.1 billion investment announced in the latest budget.[3]
With this in mind, the problems raised by the Licensing Act become more important. UK Music and publicans argue that the act impacts on the ability for small pubs and venues to afford licences by requiring licences for the smallest live performances. They say that the time and money required to handle the bureaucracy of the process makes it impractical to get through.
As such, calls from the Select Committee to remove the needs for licenses for acoustic sets from two players or fewer and venues of under 200 were widely supported, with The Publican magazine launching its own ‘Listen Up!’ campaign to try and persuade politicians to change the licensing rules so that beleaguered landlords can attract more customers with live music. And despite a separate petition requesting licensing exemptions for small venues featuring prominently on Number 10’s website, with over 7,500 signatures, those proposals were rejected by the Government, who argue that it would not increase the number of live music venues.
These grassroots venues are the hub of our music scene and, without them, there will be nowhere for tomorrow’s superstars to learn their craft and develop their passion. An amicable solution is paramount to our future.
Such a solution was found in Australia, where the music sector has campaigned to help venues in similar situations to the noise abatement order effected locations across the UK. Now developers of properties adjacent to existing live music venues to take responsibility for sound-proofing the apartments. Likewise, new venues opening in a residential area have to fit in with its pre-existing circumstances and can be closed for making too much noise.
In this age of promoting creativity, can a happy medium be found for developing and promoting new musical talent while safeguarding the interests and needs of the wider community?
About MusicTank
MusicTank is the UK's music business network, an initiative of the University of Westminster, set up with the support of 14 UK music industry organisations.
MusicTank aims to foster new collaborations and circulate innovative ideas, best practice and cutting-edge strategies to increase innovation and productivity across the business. Regular think tanks bring hot topics into sharp focus and help pinpoint the opportunities created by disruptive technologies.
MusicTank conferences deal with everything from record production to copyright review while occasional social evenings blend the entertaining recollections of music business virtuosos with the opportunity to develop valuable industry contacts.
MusicTank aims to override traditional partitions by providing improved access to expert knowledge via musictank.co.uk, the leading music business web-site, offering free industry discussion on new business techniques alongside useful reports and comments from leading lights.
MusicTank offer complimentary memberships to members of the press. This includes the MusicTank newsletter, event discounts for friends and full access to the members’ area of the website, including exclusive content, such as mp3 downloads of MT events past and present, full event transcripts and all MusicTank reports and research, including critically acclaimed reports such as Beyond The Soundbytes (Peter Jenner); Meet The Millennials (Terry McBride) and MusicTank's Filesharing report, Let's Sell Recorded Music! (Sam Shemtob - Associate Director, MusicTank). There are many other third party reports available too.
www.musictank.co.uk
Whittingdale has been at the forefront of the growing voice demanding changes to the Licensing Act to exempt small venues for their requirements as well as fronting the opposition to the controversial Form 696, which has been widely used by the Metropolitan Police and has been recommended to forces across the UK.
In July the government ignored Whittingdale’s recommendations; this event will get the reasons behind the call for change, and the reasons behind the resistance to it.
Also in the event - entitled Live Music: Licensed To Thrill? - MusicTank will investigate the use of noise abatement orders and their impact on small venues across the UK. Following MusicTank’s August newsletter editorial examining the effect their use has had in Birmingham, there has been a flurry of other stories from other parts of the UK as well as a response from Australia, where the music sector has campaigned to help venues in similar situations to the noise abatement order effected locations across the UK.
The editorial focused on the issues faced particularly in Birmingham, where the Digbeth area of the city – home to Supersonic Festival, GodsKitchen owned nightclub AIR, Birmingham Barfly and almost countless small grassroots venues – has had a number of live venues curtailed by noise abatement orders. The most recent of these venues, The Rainbow, heavily relies of music concerts to get by, and has had plans to install a £30,000 soundproof roof hampered by their noise abatement order. The landlord of The Rainbow, Kent Davis, will also be addressing the event, giving a frontline view on the issues caused by noise abatement orders and the Licensing Act.
The event will be chaired by MusicTank Chairman Keith Harris, more panellists will be confirmed soon. The format of the event is:
18.30 – 18.35: Introduction by Keith Harris
18.35 – 19.40: The Licensing Act and Form 696: What are the issues?
Keynote: John Wittingdale, Chairman, Culture Media and Sport Select Committee
19.40 – 20.10: Break
20.10 - 21.15: Noise Abatement Orders
Keynote: Kent Davis, Landlord, The Rainbow, Birmingham
Event Details:
Date: Tuesday 22nd September 2009
Time: 18.30 - 21.15 hrs
Venue: The Basement, MCPS-PRS Alliance
Location: 29-33 Berners Street, London, W1T 3AB.
Nearest Tube is Goodge St. (Northern Line), Alliance is at Mortimer St end of Berners St.
Price: £35 standard, £25 MusicTank Members, £30 trade body members (AIM, BACS, BPI, MMF, MPG, MPA, MU, PRS For Music, PPL)
Price includes complimentary drink on arrival, and post-event transcript
All places MUST be booked and paid for in advance via www.musictank.co.uk
Event Copy:
Live Music: Licensed To Thrill?
The live music business is in rude health. Despite the recession, record numbers of people are attending gigs, and last year revenues from live music overtook those from record sales, with £1.39billion generated from live music – up 16% on 2007 – whilst record sales revenue fell 6% to £1.309billion.[1]
But it is strong roots that facilitate success further up the chain, and not all is rosy at the grassroots of our live music industry. In July the government rejected widely supported recommendations from the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee regarding changes to the Licensing Act of 2003, including exemptions for small venues and, as highlighted in MusicTank’s July editorial (http://www.musictank.co.uk/newsletters/july-09/view), noise abatement orders are having a destructive impact on small venues across the UK.
This session will investigate the impact that the Licensing Act and noise abatement orders are having on small venues and music performers - we shall also hear from those who support the measures that are in place.
Noise is a massive issue for residents local to music venues. Nobody, let alone those with a young family, wants to be kept up at all hours by loud music in the club across the street. Some say that the venue should go, others say the residents should ‘like it or lump it,’ but, rather than generate a stalemate, the session will explore amicable resolutions that allow residents to get a good night’s sleep, while giving up-and-coming acts the chance to entertain and hone their craft.
In the Digbeth area of Birmingham particularly, noise abatement orders have been a common subject of news and conflict. When the Abacus apartments opened next door to The Spotted Dog, a pub that has put on live music outdoors for over 22 years, three complaints of noise were made and a noise abatement order subsequently issued by Birmingham City Council. This reduced the venue’s ability to continue as a business and robbed residents who had moved into Abacus for the local music scene of a key reason they moved to the area.
More recently, The Rainbow pub, a music venue further down the road in Digbeth, received one complaint before being threatened with a noise abatement order. Despite offering to replace their roof with a £30,000 soundproof top and over 22,000 supporters, the venue was issued with its noise abatement order – constricting its ability to raise the required funds to satisfy the complainant or continue providing an invaluable platform to artists.
Form 696 and the Culture Media and Sport Select Committee’s recommendations to the Licensing Act need less of an introduction. But with the Metropolitan Police recommending the form’s use to other forces across the UK, it seems apt to sensibly highlight the issues the form intends to prevent and the issues it causes and see what concessions can be made.
The form requires promoters at some 100-plus venues in London to provide detailed personal information to police if they want to stage a music event and has come under accusations of racial stereotyping.
UK Music CEO Fergal Sharkey said that Form 696, “is a wholly unnecessary impediment to live music and has become a mandatory licensing condition on more than 70 premises in 21 London boroughs. UK Music has been vocal amongst musicians, civil liberty campaigners and members of the public who want to see this counter-productive and morally questionable risk assessment form scrapped.
“Music is a vital part of all UK culture: we should all celebrating that, free it from bureaucracy and make this country a richer and more vibrant place.”
This is a point that has been supported by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has pinpointed creative industries as a vital part of the British economy, more important than ever in the current recession, saying that, “culture in the UK helps to define and shape and deepen our lives as individuals [and] also makes a significant contribution to our nation’s prosperity.”
This statement is backed up by the figures: music in London alone puts in excess of £1 billion into the UK economy[2] and the government has pledged to increase the number of jobs in the industry too, with music industry jobs being part of a £1.1 billion investment announced in the latest budget.[3]
With this in mind, the problems raised by the Licensing Act become more important. UK Music and publicans argue that the act impacts on the ability for small pubs and venues to afford licences by requiring licences for the smallest live performances. They say that the time and money required to handle the bureaucracy of the process makes it impractical to get through.
As such, calls from the Select Committee to remove the needs for licenses for acoustic sets from two players or fewer and venues of under 200 were widely supported, with The Publican magazine launching its own ‘Listen Up!’ campaign to try and persuade politicians to change the licensing rules so that beleaguered landlords can attract more customers with live music. And despite a separate petition requesting licensing exemptions for small venues featuring prominently on Number 10’s website, with over 7,500 signatures, those proposals were rejected by the Government, who argue that it would not increase the number of live music venues.
These grassroots venues are the hub of our music scene and, without them, there will be nowhere for tomorrow’s superstars to learn their craft and develop their passion. An amicable solution is paramount to our future.
Such a solution was found in Australia, where the music sector has campaigned to help venues in similar situations to the noise abatement order effected locations across the UK. Now developers of properties adjacent to existing live music venues to take responsibility for sound-proofing the apartments. Likewise, new venues opening in a residential area have to fit in with its pre-existing circumstances and can be closed for making too much noise.
In this age of promoting creativity, can a happy medium be found for developing and promoting new musical talent while safeguarding the interests and needs of the wider community?
About MusicTank
MusicTank is the UK's music business network, an initiative of the University of Westminster, set up with the support of 14 UK music industry organisations.
MusicTank aims to foster new collaborations and circulate innovative ideas, best practice and cutting-edge strategies to increase innovation and productivity across the business. Regular think tanks bring hot topics into sharp focus and help pinpoint the opportunities created by disruptive technologies.
MusicTank conferences deal with everything from record production to copyright review while occasional social evenings blend the entertaining recollections of music business virtuosos with the opportunity to develop valuable industry contacts.
MusicTank aims to override traditional partitions by providing improved access to expert knowledge via musictank.co.uk, the leading music business web-site, offering free industry discussion on new business techniques alongside useful reports and comments from leading lights.
MusicTank offer complimentary memberships to members of the press. This includes the MusicTank newsletter, event discounts for friends and full access to the members’ area of the website, including exclusive content, such as mp3 downloads of MT events past and present, full event transcripts and all MusicTank reports and research, including critically acclaimed reports such as Beyond The Soundbytes (Peter Jenner); Meet The Millennials (Terry McBride) and MusicTank's Filesharing report, Let's Sell Recorded Music! (Sam Shemtob - Associate Director, MusicTank). There are many other third party reports available too.
www.musictank.co.uk
