Aug 18, 2010 - Thumbin' Sleazoid Cinema - Mike Ashcraft ... Mike Ashcraft and Thumbin Sleazoid Cinema is a sexploitation and sleazoid guru ... Blog Archive
UK Music Industry in Plea to Protect its Status During Brexit Negotiations
Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
After music exports rose in 2015, trade group says politicians must take notice of economic and cultural contribution.
UK Music says popular artists such as Sam Smith help raise Britain�s profile around the world. Photograph: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
The music industry has issued a plea to politicians to protect the UK�s status as one of the world�s biggest exporters of new music during negotiations to leave the EU.
New figures show UK music enjoyed another strong year for exports in 2015, prompting the industry�s main trade group to warn that politicians must recognise both its contribution to the economy and its power to raise Britain�s profile around the world thanks to the popularity of artists such as Adele and Sam Smith.
There was a surge in foreign sales of British music and in ticket sales to overseas residents for events in Britain in 2015, according to the umbrella group UK Music, which represents the commercial music industry, including artists, songwriters and record labels. That drove a 3.4% rise in exports to �2.2bn in 2015 and left exports up 11% since 2012, when UK Music began compiling figures.
That reflected another year of international chart success for British artists. Five of the top 10 artists in the world last year in terms of sales were from the UK � Adele, Ed Sheeran, One Direction, Coldplay and Sam Smith.
UK Music�s chief executive, Jo Dipple, said the industry was outperforming the wider UK economy and was punching above its weight around the world, with artists such as Skepta outselling US acts in North America. But she sounded a note of caution over its post-referendum prospects and said the industry wanted to see policies that would maintain its export power.
�The UK needs to solidify its new post-Brexit place in the world and music will undoubtedly be part of the glue that does this. Our export profile is astounding which is partly why music, like sport, gives the world an understanding of our small country,� said Dipple.
�UK Music�s goal is to work with government to convince them to give us policies as good as the music we produce.�
The UK music industry has been outperforming the wider economy over the past 4 years
Percentage change 2012 to 2015
Music's contribution to the economy +17%
UK music's exports +11%
Employment in the UK music industry +11%
0
5
10
15
Guardian graphic | Source: UK Music The export success helped lift the industry�s contribution to the UK economy to �4.1bn last year. That was an improvement of just 0.6% on the year before but was up 17% on 2012. Employment in the music industry rose 1.4% on the year with 119,020 full time jobs in 2015. That was a rise of 11% since 2012, the Measuring Music report said.
In a statement to accompany the report, the culture secretary, Karen Bradley, emphasised the UK music industry�s international success.
�The extraordinary success of artists like Coldplay and Adele added billions to our economy. We want to maintain and build on that success. The government is working closely with industry bodies, such as UK Music, to make it easier for these artists to do business and is investing in music education to nurture the next wave of successful British artists, who we want to see perform across the whole world,� she said.
�But the value of music goes beyond the economic. People around the world get their first taste of British culture via our music, while for millions at home it is a source of entertainment and creative expression.�
The annual health check of the industry showed that while overall employment and output were up, there were still some areas struggling as the music industry continued to adapt to fast-changing consumer habits and technology.
As CD sales dropped 3.9% in 2015, recorded music suffered a 1% fall in what UK Music terms its �contribution to the economy�, or gross value added (GVA). On 2012, recorded music�s GVA was down 4%. But the trade group said the physical market remained resilient and it highlighted an ongoing resurgence in vinyl records where sales were up 60% in each of the past three years. �All in all, there is every sign that the recorded sector will return to growth in 2016,� said the UK Music chairman, Andy Heath.
Paid subscription streaming services such as Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal have provided a significant boost to the digital music economy and their value jumped from �168m in 2014 to �251m in 2015, the report said. But it accused other advertising-funded digital services of devaluing music. �The YouTube model, despite its reach, is yet to deliver fair financial returns for rights owners and creators, artists, composers, songwriters and publishers,� the report said.
It also called for more support for grassroots music venues after a drop in concert revenues last year. It meant that while a total audience of 27.7 million attended music events in the UK in 2015, there was a slight dip in live music�s overall contribution to the economy.
�Grassroots music venues need investment now,� said Dipple.
Much of the band's latest music directly addresses the causes closest to them including the rampant opioid epidemic ravaging New England and the recent presidential election Dropkicks Murphys are a rare breed. Boston�s pride, the Celtic punk rockers are kicking off their third decade as a band, with their famous flame of passion showing no sign of dwindling to a flicker. It�s burning more fiercely than ever, frontman Al Barr and guitarist Tim Brennan tell me, as we slump into leather sofas surrounded by guitars in London�s Gibson Studios. It�s impossible to separate this six-piece from their fans, so much so that new song �Blood� from their upcoming ninth album 11 Short Stories of Pain and Glory is a homage to the mutual respect and dedication they share. Unlike many contemporary bands, the Dropkicks do not rely on radio airplay to get their music heard. They have shifted over four million albums globally, fan favorite � Rose Tattoo � has racked up over 24 million hit
POPPY Chancellor is among loved ones hailing the musician in a documentary filmed two weeks after he was diagnosed with the cancer that claimed his life. IRVINE Welsh and Billy Bragg hail him as a hero. Shane MacGowan was one of his closest friends. His romances with singer Neneh Cherry and actress Anna Chancellor made gossip columns, as did his friendships with aristocracy. But few outside of the post-punk music scene know much about poet Jock Scot. Yet his family and friends says his influence on music, literature and the arts was extraordinary. For Poppy Chancellor, his daughter with Four Weddings and A Funeral star Anna, he was just dad � albeit a rather unusual one. Poppy spoke out as a documentary about her father�s bohemian life � from meeting Ian Dury and The Blockheads and following them to London to becoming a performance poet and opening gigs for the likes of Joe Strummer, The Pogues and The Libertines � is being finished. Keith Allen, Jock Scot, Neneh Cherry and G
The underground hardcore punk movement � led by the likes of Black Flag, MDC and Minor Threat � flourished during the height of Reagan�s presidency in the 80s. Composite: Getty Images & Malcolm Rivera Since the election, the Kominas have been getting the same curious request. The east coast punk band keeps being asked, by film-makers and documentarians, for a Donald Trump protest song. �People just assume we have an anti-Trump song already recorded,� says Basim Usmani, the group�s bassist. In the weeks preceding and following the election, musicians, fans and critics have discussed and debated the idea that Trump�s impending presidency could inspire a new movement of politically charged protest music. So it�s no surprise that the Kominas, a South Asian American band whose discography includes provocative statements like Sharia Law in the USA, would be called upon for a musical reaction to the president-elect. �It�s been hard to deal with,� says Usmani, whose band recentl
Comments
Post a Comment