Keir Starmer
The U.K. has elected a new government. Following the country’s General Election on Thursday (July 4), Labour won an overwhelming majority with 412 elected MPs, and its leader, Sir Keir Starmer, is the new Prime Minister. The U.K. had been under Conservative rule since 2010, but the Rishi Sunak-led party lost 249 seats, finishing with just 121, the worst result in its history.
This comes as little surprise, as polling consistently put the left-wing party Labour ahead of its rivals. The only real question was how comprehensive the result would be. Starmer’s success rivals previous Prime Minister Tony Blair and his landslide victory with Labour in 1997’s General Election.
Starmer ran his campaign on a ticket of “Change,” but few knew quite what that meant. There were promises of economic growth and a greater respect for the office, but a final YouGov poll released the day prior to the election found that only 5% of registered voters were choosing Labour MPs for “policy reasons.” Despite the seat majority — 326 elected MPs are required to win in the U.K.’s first-past-the-post electoral system — Labour’s vote share has increased by just 1.5% from the 2019 General Election that it lost comprehensively. It’s been a line of attack hammered repeatedly: What does Labour actually stand for?
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It’s a question that the music industry has been asking, too. Between the cost-of-living crisis, the rise in inflation and the long-running impact of Brexit, a perfect storm has been brewing under the Conservatives which, Ed Sheeran suggested earlier this week, did “not value art at all”.
There are positive noises. In its manifesto, Labour says it “will implement our creative industries sector plan as part of our Industrial Strategy, creating good jobs and accelerating growth in film, music, gaming, and other creative sectors.” There are references to assisting performers in touring through the EU, ensuring “new consumer protections on ticket resales” and plans to ban “no fault” evictions which, as NME previously reported, is contributing to the housing crisis felt by creatives and society at large.
Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), is optimistic that the members he campaigns on behalf of — venues, clubs, bars, performers, workers and more — feel positively towards the new government. Fourty four percent of respondents to the NTIA’s Consumer Insight Survey feel that Labour is supportive of the arts, culture and sport, compared to the Conservatives at just 11%.
“There’s been lots of positive rhetoric behind the scenes,” says Kill, but “it still seems very unclear where Labour is from the manifesto.” There will now be additional concern that Thangam Debbonaire, who had been widely expected to become the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sports, failed to win her seat in her Bristol Central constituency; she is one of just two shadow cabinet ministers to not join the party in government.
The changes that Kill and other industry bodies like the Music Venue Trust (MVT) are calling for are simple. He points to the VAT rate (Value Added Tax) that campaigners like the NTIA and Save Our Scene want reduced to 12.5%, and a reduction of VAT on tickets for music events at grassroots venues. They say these changes would bring them closer to comparative rates in Europe.
In 2022, it was estimated that the nighttime economy generated £136.5 billion, an increase from 2019’s pre-pandemic figure of £121.3 billion, but the NTIA’s report notes that inflation and an increase in operating costs means that any turnover gains will be “essentially wiped out.” Between policy, legislative and financial issues, the live music and hospitality industry is on the back foot.
“We do need to change the attitude in terms of the value we bring,” Kill says. “The nighttime economy needs to start to be perceived as non-burdensome and more value-driven. The worry that we have is that the U.K. is going to lose that status as a real driver of culture.”
There are similarly pressing issues for artists, too. Lily Fontaine, lead singer of indie-rock band English Teacher, which released its critically acclaimed debut album This Could Be Texas on Island Records this year, says artists like themselves are in a dire position. “I’m still not earning. It’s still a struggle for me and my band,” she says. “And it’s even more of a struggle for smaller artists that are trying to make a career.”
When Fontaine gave evidence to the Culture Media & Sport Parliamentary Committee on Grassroots Music Venues in March, she pointed out the “cost-of-touring” crisis and the burden it places on her and her band to keep their tour crew — from technicians to production staff — employed and paid. Though the band received funding from PPL Momentum Accelerator to help record its first single, the sheer cost will lead to a landscape unrepresentative of the U.K.’s diverse music scenes.
“We didn’t have enough time to maintain full-time jobs to get enough money,” Fontaine says. “It was so hard to create and to enjoy creating [our debut album] when you’ve got to think about earning. Then that creates a homogenised scene because only the people that can afford it would do it.”
Manchester-based musician Chloe Slater — who released her single “Nothing Shines On This Island” earlier this year — is concerned that young people are being priced out of music events that help inspire creativity, and that grassroots music venues are closing at an alarming rate. The MVT says that 125 grassroots venues shut down in 2023, while the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) says that 50 independent music festivals have been canceled, postponed or closed in 2024.
“Grassroots venues and festivals [are] where young musicians hone their craft, and the industry is an ecosystem,” Slater says. “And if you lose those venues, it’s such a massive part of that. I don’t understand where all the new artists are supposed to come from if they’re not there.”
A levy on tickets at larger venues to help support the grassroots venues has been recommended by MPs. Kill welcomes this suggestion but wants to ensure the whole ecosystem is supported, not just music venues. Elsewhere, Labour has suggested a crackdown on secondary ticket touts, but its position on AI is still uncertain, even as it’s become a pressing topic in the music industry and beyond.
The in-tray is bulging and the U.K. music industry is holding its breath, hoping that the incoming Labour government can meet the challenge.
When the United Kingdom votes on July 4 to elect its next government, business leaders around the world will be closely monitoring the outcome to see what it means for them. For the music industry, the upcoming general election — announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday (May 22) — could also lead to major change depending on who wins.
According to the latest opinion polls, the Labour Party is more than 20 points ahead of the ruling Conservative Party, which has been in power for 14 years. Unless Sunak achieves an extraordinary turnaround in the next six weeks, Labour leader Keir Starmer is widely expected to be the next resident of Number 10 Downing Street, most likely with a big majority of Parliamentary seats.
Should that happen, Starmer has said he plans to make a number of reforms that will impact the world’s third-largest recorded music market, touring and regulation of the tech industry, all of which will reverberate beyond the United Kingdom’s borders.
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Tougher Rules for Ticket Resale Platforms and Prospect of Future Arena Tickets Tax
In March, Starmer announced that a future Labour government will cap the resale prices of concert tickets and introduce tougher regulations for secondary ticketing platforms such as Viagogo, which has already been subject to numerous investigations and inquiries in the United Kingdom.
The Labour policy would limit the number of tickets individual resellers could sell on resale platforms and give the U.K. competition watchdog greater powers to take “swift” action against services and scalpers who break the rules, Starmer said.
Any change at Number 10 could also have big implications for the global touring business. Earlier this month, a Parliamentary committee called for a new voluntary levy to be added to arena and stadium tickets sold in the United Kingdom to support struggling grassroots music venues.
To stem the tide of small venue closures, the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee said the voluntary levy should be introduced “no later” than September. If progress is not made, the government should set up a statutory levy, advised the committee, which also called for a cut in sales tax (VAT) on tickets for grassroots music shows.
Whichever political party wins on July 4, it will be expected to respond to the CMS committee report on the grassroots music sector. As for the committees themselves, they all cease to exist after Parliament is dissolved on May 30, although a new bunch will be formed after the election made up of a cross-party selection of MPs. They can pick new topics or industries to investigate — or can choose to build upon the work of their predecessors, meaning Parliamentary interest in the music business is unlikely to go away.
Given the huge contribution the U.K. music industry makes to the country’s economy — £6.7 billion ($8.2 billion) in music sales, concerts, recording studios, touring and music tourism in 2022, according to trade organization UK Music — government leaders will be keen to be seen doing all they can to protect the sector.
Regulating AI and Big Tech
Following the general election, the hot issue of regulating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to be near the top of the legislative agenda and will continue to be a source of heavy lobbying from the tech and music industries.
The current Conservative government has spent the past several years consulting on the topic but has yet to deliver any firm plans and has generally pursued a light touch “pro-innovation” approach to the regulation of AI.
In 2023, the government quietly shelved a proposal by The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) for a new text and data mining (TDM) exception that would have allowed AI developers to freely use copyright-protected works for commercial purposes (albeit with certain restrictions) following fierce criticism from the music industry.
Since then, there have been repeated calls from music trade groups like labels trade body BPI for the government to follow the European Union’s lead and defend creators, musicians and rights holders from the potential risks of generative AI models.
Earlier this month, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music called for a comprehensive “pro-creative industries” AI bill that protects the music business from the “threats” posed by the technology. Among its recommendations were banning AI developers from using copyright-protected music for training purposes without consent, as well as the requirement for tech companies to clearly label all AI-generated content.
If Sunak retains power, music executives will be keen to see him urgently press ahead with U.K.-specific legislation around AI and ensure the United Kingdom doesn’t fall behind other countries and markets in regulating the sector.
Labour’s position on AI, as outlined by Starmer last summer, is that they will bring in stronger regulations than the Conservatives, although details are thin on the ground and the party’s stance does appear to have softened in recent months as it attempts to court business leaders and tech executives by presenting itself as a “pro-innovation” government-in-waiting. Labour had been working on an AI strategy document ahead of the general election announcement, which it was expected to launch this month.
Addressing Artists’ and Songwriters’ Discontent Over Streaming Terms
Over the past four years, the United Kingdom has led the way in addressing artist discontent over low payments from music streaming. Since 2020, when the pandemic-enforced shutdown of the live industry brought the issue to the fore, there have been numerous Parliament-led inquiries into the record business, including a review of the major labels’ market dominance by the U.K. competition watchdog.
In December 2021, a bill was debated in Parliament that would have required record companies to pay musicians and songwriters a bigger cut of streaming revenue. It was defeated at the first stage, but the prospect of government intervention in the U.K. music business has seen record companies beef up their public policy teams and divert a huge amount of time and resources into dealing with the various probes.
The heightened scrutiny of the music industry has yet to result in any law changes, but it has increased pressure on labels to improve artist terms and contracts. A government-led working group focusing on creator remuneration recently launched (which insiders say is likely to continue post-election) and the noise around low streaming royalties for many artists is unlikely to die down anytime soon.
Last month, the Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee published a report calling for government ministers to “do more to make sure music makers are paid fairly” and to press ahead with a package of sweeping copyright reforms. The committee’s recommendations included overhauling the revenue split between recording and publishing rights from music streaming, currently set at around 55% for recording and 15% for publishing, to better reward songwriters.
“It’s vital that any incoming administration ensures we deliver on recommendations made by the Culture Select Committee to reset the streaming market and support grassroots live touring,” says Annabella Coldrick, chief executive of the U.K. Music Managers Forum (MMF).
“More broadly, we need a government that values British music, puts it at the forefront of U.K. growth policy, and backs it with a credible music strategy to maximize our industry’s potential both domestically and internationally,” Coldrick adds.
Whether that responsibility falls to Sunak or Starmer will be determined by the British public on July 4. If Labour does win the general election, there’s a chance that two high-profile figures from the music world could join them in government. Dave Rowntree, the drummer for Blur, is running as the Labour candidate for the Conservative-held Mid Sussex seat, while Tom Gray, co-founder of indie rock band Gomez and chair of songwriters and composers body the Ivors Academy, is the party’s chosen candidate for the Brighton Pavilion constituency.
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