up by Parmley . He says the priority was dealing with the implications of Brexit on all aspects of live event touring and addressing the lack of detail in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement .
He says , “ The agreement runs to more than 1,400 pages , but there is very scant mention of live entertainment . We all felt that the deal , negotiated by Lord Frost , was very rushed .”
Since the 15-member group was launched , it has engaged with the Government on multiple levels regarding numerous issues , with the departments lobbied including the DCMS , Home Office , the Department for Transport , Treasury , the Cabinet Office and No . 10 .
“ The Government is now aware of the sleeping giant our industry
was , and it understands that Brexit has huge implications for us ,” says Stanley . “ We have been very successful at identifying the problems and clarifying what they mean to our sector , we have helped get rules changed and clarity given , so that we now know what we ’ re dealing with .
“ I sit on what ’ s also called the Touring Group at the DCMS and now the Government calls us for advice , whereas a year and a half ago they only really paid lip service to the live industry ; whether that was the music makers , technicians or suppliers .”
One of the many challenges involves in trying to move people and equipment around Europe is the amount of paperwork that needs to be completed , from ATA Carnets ( a travel document needed for instruments and equipment ) to CITES permits if instruments contain rare materials or remnants of endangered species such as ivory .
“ We were promised a bonfire of Brussels bureaucracy but all that has happened is Brexit has added to the pile . But we have managed to get a lot clearer guidance published , there ’ s a lot more information on the Government websites , and the Export Office is really now focused on trying to help us ,” says Stanley .
The post-Brexit issue Stanley is most concerned about is cabotage . It means that UK tour vehicles weighing more than 3.5 tonnes are allowed just two drops before having to return to the UK .
“ Now the Government calls us for advice , whereas a year and a half ago they only really paid lip service to the live industry ” – Craig Stanley
He says , “ It is an existential threat to our industry as a direct result of Brexit . It means there will be no trucks and without trucks there can be no tours . Finding solutions to cabotage is the greatest single thing that the group is engaged with .”
The next big step for Stanely and the group is pushing for the government to create a central information resource for the live industry : “ We are a big enough industry , we are bigger than the steel and fishing industries combined , we are a major industry with 210,000 full time or equivalent jobs , we contribute £ 4.6 billion to UK PLC every year , so they should have a specific help hub , an information source so that solo traders , a young
LIVE members :
• Association of Independent Festivals ( AIF )
• Association for Electronic Music ( AFEM )
• Association of Festival Organisers ( AFO )
• Association of Independent Promoters ( AIP )
• British Association of Concert Halls ( BACH )
• Concert Promoters Association ( CPA )
• Featured Artists Coalition ( FAC )
• The Entertainment Agents ’ Association ( TEAA )
• Music Venue Trust ( MVT )
• Music Managers Forum ( MMF )
• National Arenas Association ( NAA )
• Production Services Association ( PSA )
• Society of Ticket Agents & Retailers ( STAR )
band or Coldplay have one place they can go where they can get up-to-date information and advice on all 26 European countries , because they are changing their rules frequently .”
Future For Parmley the current focus is lobbying Government to extend the reduced VAT rate period beyond the end of March , and LIVE is also pushing for the introduction of a permanent cultural VAT rate on tickets for concerts and festivals .
“ That already exists for the classical music sector but the UK has one of the highest VAT rates for contemporary music concert tickets anywhere in Europe ,” he says .
Another project is the creation of “ all-encompassing ” annual economic report that clearly illustrates the value of the entire live music industry in the UK .
He says , “ A lot of the economic impact work we have run in the last two years has been really useful in making our case , and so a real focus for this year is setting up an annual report that is driven by the live sector and really illustrates the broader economic impacts of the industry .”
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