8th March 2021
UK MUSIC CEO reports in his weekly blog a similar feeling to that of AFO Gen. Sec. The euphoria of the news after the budget that suggested festivals could just restart was of course exciting but the devil in the detail is now being revealed. In his blog (8/3/21) Jamie says…. Last week’s Budget was a mixed bag for the music industry. Having finally secured a timeline for comi...
6th March 2021
AFO currently holds the chair of EIF. The forum have today put out the following statement Insurance: Conversations are continuing with the Government over the need for them to underwrite insurance if events are to go ahead this summer. While we had hoped to hear something by now, the view is that this is very much on the table still. Supplier Concerns: Despite repeatedly urging the ...
5th March 2021
On 22 February the Prime Minister announced the roadmap. Most of you will be familiar with how it works - these are the summary pages drawn out in simple text, pictures, and explanatory notes. READ SUMMARY HERE...
2nd March 2021
Just to help cut speculation and to assist in clarity, if you are wondering what to do, thinking of running your festival or tickets have already gone on sale I strongly recommend you read this detail first. In particular Section 3 and 4. If this does not answer your questions or give you the guidance you need, drop a line to [email protected] and we will try and Answer your ...
2nd March 2021
Stakeholder reaction responding to news that the Chancellor will announce nearly £410m extra money for arts, culture and heritage industries. This includes a £300m boost for the Culture Recovery Fund, an extra £90m to support our National Museums and cultural bodies to bridge the months ahead, and nearly £20m for culture projects in regio...
24th February 2021
Live music industry umbrella group LIVE (Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment), which has been involved in initiatives including the #LetTheMusicPlay and #KeepVATat5 campaigns, has formally launched. Declaring itself “the voice of the UK’s live music industry”, LIVE is a federation of more than a dozen live music industry associations including the Association of Ind...
23rd February 2021
Speaking at the Association of Organisers Conference on Saturday, 20 February, UK Music Chief Executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin outlined how festivals can play key role in the post-pandemic economic and cultural recovery but the right support was key, including a government-backed insurance scheme. Njoku-Goodwin said that as long as the festival industry is unable to operate viably, Government must...
22nd February 2021
On 22 February, the Prime Minister set out his road map for ending the lockdown. Of course, he didn’t say that festivals and big events could start again, but there was the tiniest glimmer of hope in his statement. He made quick reference to events but said the word “testing “on several occasions. The festival industry as we know it cannot handle testing at the gate of the ...
22nd February 2021
Following the prime minister’s announcement in the House of Commons today, 22 February, that major live events will not be able to return until 17 May, and it will be at least 21 June before full capacity shows can resume, the events industry has called on the Government to support impacted businesses and individuals during the downtime. “While it is good to get some clarity followi...
18th February 2021
Launch: 18th February Crux of the campaign: As you will be well aware, the live events industry has been hit incredibly hard by COVID and the associated lockdown and social distancing measures. As representatives of individuals and companies working in the live events supply chain, our campaign is focused on the fact that the government has frequently appeared blind to the impacts on the su...
10th February 2021
The Department for Health and Social Care have announced that over 230 local authorities in England are now offering rapid Covid-19 testing. They have also launched a new postcode checker to help people who need to leave home for work find out if rapid Covid-19 testing is offered by their local authority or near their place of work. https://www.gov.uk/find-covid-19-lateral-flow-test-site...
4th February 2021
Speaking at the DCMS Select Committee inquiry into the future of UK music festivals earlier this week it was great to hear that Rowan Cannon, Wild Rumpus confirm that her company’s two 5,000-capacity festivals could be staged even if social distancing measures had to be implemeted. Read the article here: https://accessaa.co.uk/festivals-as-safe-as-sainsburys/ To vie...
4th February 2021
#KeepVATat5 This has been one of the most difficult years ever for the live music industry, with a reduction of more than 80% in revenue across the industry. As one of the first industries to close and likely the last to reopen, the Cultural Recovery Fund was a lifeline for some businesses in our industry. Alongside the CRF was a promised reduction in the rate of VA...
1st February 2021
See and Hear UK MUSIC CEO fight our corner for festivals. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000ry1z/politics-live-01022021 (Starts around 20.56 mins in)...
31st January 2021
This is why we need H.M. Government backed insurance… https://www.iq-mag.net/2021/01/french-festivals-reschedule-new-lockdown-looms/#.YBa-aXmnzD5 It could happen here! #SupportFestivals #SupportEvents ...
28th January 2021
All Party Parliamentary Group for Events (APPG) have teamed up with BVEP to make a submission to the covid recovery Commission (AFO /EIF give evidence and support to the APPG) Click here to view the CRC Policy Submission Document Click here to view the APPG BVEP CRC Release Document...
26th January 2021
PRS for Music launches new Online Live Concert licence for small-scale livestreamed gigs Available for livestreamed events below £500 in revenue New portal allows easy licence purchase for those wanting to stage or host an online live concert or gig in the UK New educational webpage helps members and potential licensees understand the rights and licensing requirement of onli...
25th January 2021
Mitigations to Reduce Transmission of the new variant SARS-CoV-2 virusSAGE-EMG, SPI-B, Transmission Group, 23 Dec 2020 Be sure to take time to read the mitigations to reduce transmission of the new variant here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/948607/s0995-mitigations-to-reduce-transmission-of-the-new-variant.pdf...
24th January 2021
CRF: Grants Round one – underspend communications 21.1.21 – FINAL EMAIL 1 To: all CRF1 Grant recipients Subject: Underspend on Culture Recovery Fund: Grants (first round) Hello, We are happy to be able to confirm that DCMS has advised that, due to the changes in restrictions brought about by the introduction of tiers and current lockdown, any remaining underspend on you...
22nd January 2021
Arts Council England seem to have made an error in the text of part of CRF2 application. Lucy Stone has very kindly provided the following. Character Counts in the Expenditure Table and the Delivery Plan Table are intended to be 100 Characters. There seem to be a number of anomalies in Grantium on the word counts for the Expenditure Table and the Delivery Pla...
