News

£8.9m is being invested in two funds to support young people's music making, learning and earning potential.

Youth Music has launched the Trailblazer Fund, offering grants of up to £30,000 to organisations who want to trial new music projects, and the Catalyser Fund, which will give up to £300,000 to those want to scale up existing projects or "create change in sector practice".

The charity says the funds, made possible with National Lottery support via Arts Council England, respond to a 33% increase in demand for funds over the past 12 months.

"The post-pandemic demand for funding of transformative music-making opportunities is far outpacing demand," it said.

Applicants to Youth Music helped design the funds and will inform the funding decisions.

"This shift will make life easier for applicants and ensure music making opportunities are open for the children and young people who need them the most."
 
 

Unapproved Covid tests have been "widely" used in TV and film productions, a laboratories trade body claims.

The Laboratory and Testing Industry Organisation (LTIO) found two Covid tests – MFX Biotech and Virolens - are being marketed to the film production industry despite not being authorised under the Medical Devices (Coronavirus Test Device Approvals) Regulations 2021.

The LTIO wrote to the Department of Health and Social Care, who confirmed these tests are illegal to sell in the UK.

LTIO Executive Director Matt Cartmell says the association is concerned.

“It is completely unacceptable that Covid tests that are not legal are in use by businesses in the UK, especially in the TV and production industry. Rogue manufacturers should be held accountable for their actions.”

Artistic portrayals of the Queen will be "minted" as NFTs following an exhibition on London's South Bank.

Ad Lib Gallery are seeking digital depictions of the monarch to display at The OXO Gallery and along platforms at Victoria Station for 'Art Save the Queen'.

Chosen works will be showcased on NFT marketplace OpenSea.

Submissions to the "unique creative challenge" should be made to adlib.online by May 2 and be no larger than 2 meg each.

A new research project and campaign aims to improve compliance with intellectual property rights.

IPO Chief Executive Tim Moss said the office will this year investigate "how society considers intellectual property" and hopefully build a new "social contract" that better protects creators' rights.

"We need to reassess the balance of return on investment and social return," Moss told attendees at a Westminster Media Forum on Friday (April 8).

Campaigns to prevent counterfeit and illegal downloads are planned.

Moss added: "It's a massive challenge but we really do need to change attitudes around IP."

Prince Charles and Queen Letizia of Spain officially opened a new gallery of Spanish art in Bishop Auckland last week.

The first UK museum dedicated exclusively to Spanish art is part of the Auckland Project, which seeks to regenerate the township around Auckland Castle. It first opened to the public in October.

It features works by Francisco de Zurbarán, which were housed in the castle for more than 250 years before going up for sale in 2011.

They were purchased by philanthropist Jonathan Ruffer, who is the gallery's benefactor.

Wiltshire Council is seeking expressions of interest from cultural organisations to run Salisbury City Hall.

The hall closed in March 2020 and has since been used as a vaccination centre. The NHS will continue using it until September, at which point the council could hand it over.

It says it doesn't want to sell the building and hasn't ruled out reopening the venue itself, even though "the financial climate is challenging at the moment".

"If we decide to do that we have to ensure the venue is sustainable and will be there for the long-term."

It will hold discussions with possible operators over the coming months.

A decision to replace a British production of Phantom of the Opera with a Chinese one "speaks volumes about the impact of the Government’s approach to supporting touring creatives".

The statement from DCMS Committee Chair Julian Knight comes after Jessica Koravos, President of the Really Useful Group, told MPs it was "more straightforward and less expensive" to tour the Chinese show in the EU.

Knight said this exemplifies the damage done to arts touring by Brexit.

"The mask has well and truly slipped on the true extent of the problems faced by the UK arts sector.

"The current EU visa arrangements are proving economically disastrous for our cultural industries by forcing them to play second fiddle to their international competitors, while having a hugely detrimental effect on the ability of the UK to exercise soft power by promoting Britain abroad post-Brexit.”