AAA White Paper The political economy of informal events, 2030 | Page 51

Exports of services, the arts and sport, 2010-16
2010
sales,
current £m 2016
sales,
current £m 2010-16
rise, per
cent Per cent of total UK
exports of services
Music,
performing and
visual arts 357 1119 213 0.5
Sport 938 2340 149 1.0
UK 174,121 245,406 41 100
51
Chart 15
Source: DCMS, Tables 7-24:
Exports and imports of
services by sub-sector,
2018, and DCMS, Tables
1-6: Exports and imports of
services by sector, 2018
4. PROSPECTS
In Gross Value Added, jobs, productivity and exports, events need
be ashamed of nothing. Nor, as we have seen, do music events face
a saturated market. Yet though the snags that events face in the
future will include economic ones, it is politics, and the regulation
of events, that could prove more problematic. Some parts of
officialdom could deepen their distrust of the general public at
events. They could allow the conduct of a tiny minority of eventgoers
to divert them from the overwhelmingly positive effect of events. In
an attempt to shore up their public legitimacy and their jobs, they
could choose to pander to those tiny, shouty minorities of residents
that refuse always to see anything good in events.
That would be a mistake.
The export record shows that an alternative can be found. Since
the Crash of 2008, UK musical and performing arts events have soared
fastest not in UK GVA, employment and productivity, but abroad. That
may be because the licensing climate in Europe and elsewhere is often
more tolerant than it is here. Altogether, the statistics imply that UK
events GVA, jobs and productivity could rise as fast as events exports
in future, if this country had a more liberal licensing regime.
Sometimes a Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) attitude to a local
event is justified. When, back in 2002, DJ Fatboy Slim’s set drew
more than 250,000 attendees to Brighton beach, locals had every
right to complain about the resulting disruption. Yet more often, and
especially in the longer and wider economic view, to frustrate events
is the wrong course to take.
In terms of what events could do for Britain between now and
2030, the most urgent task is to raise the level of debate about them,
and to broaden its scope. That alone would be an innovation.
One final point here. Exaggerated fears of The Crowd have a long
and rather iffy history (see Appendix A). Such fears should not now
be allowed to dictate the future policy, regulation and licensing
framework for events.