OCTOBER | OPINION
I
n the last decade there has been
significant change within our industry.
The recent build towards austerity
has given rise to the manipulation of our
licensing laws, resulting in events being
stopped, closures, license refusals to long
standing festivals/events and unrealistic
licensing conditions placed on some of the
most influential operators within the UK.
The time has come for our sector to start
to challenge the impact of our industry on
the economy and communities, focusing our
research on eradicating false representation
given by many Local Authorities and police,
in the hope of being replaced with more
reliable quantifiable data.
Don’t even get me started on
accountability.
Operators of festivals, events and venues,
with partners in the press need to start to
challenge the decisions that govern our
industry collectively; bringing them to the
attention of the public, whilst negating the
image purported by key influencers who
use the media to enforce the idea that our
industry, and music within it, create factors
which negatively impact our communities.
We all recognise the value of the sector
within the economy and continue to stress
that restrictions on the sector will change
the landscape of the nightlife which we are
so proud of and limit the opportunity for
creativity and the growth of the economy in
the future.
The campaign
#Savenightlife is a grass-roots nationwide
movement supported by record labels,
agencies, promoters and the public. We are
promoting nightculture, raising awareness,
and building a collective of supporters across
the country.
Challenging times
Organisers and venues are being squeezed by legislation, The Night
Time Industry Association (NTIA) CEO Michael Kill tells Access
24
British nightlife is under threat.
Increasingly strict licensing laws, rising
property prices, new housing built close
to existing venues without sufficient
consideration and measures to protect
premises, and a lack of understanding
about the benefits of night culture have all
played their part in eroding our nightlife.
The statistics tell the same story: in the last
decade, the number of UK clubs and live
music venues has almost halved.
We are building a collective of people
who are concerned for nightlife and who
can raise their voices together in support
of it: together we can shape the cities of the
future.
Our petition allows you to either support
venues in need or put pressure on your local
councillors and MPs. The more signatures
we gather, the stronger our collective voice
is.