Music

Liverpool City Region (LCR) Combined Authority is investing £1.6m in its LCR Music Board.

First set up in December 2018, the board is responsible for creating and overseeing a strategy to grow and support the music sector and its economic and social impact on the city region.

The latest investment is part of a £2m pledge made in March 2020 and will enable the board to deliver the second phase of the LCR Music Sector Development Project.

Plans include the creation of a LCR Music Office, which will act as a single point of contact for music businesses across the city region by providing information, advice and signposting to available support. 

A skills development strand of the project will deliver apprenticeships and traineeships across the music sector. 

The programme also plans to support industry career events and outreach to young people, providing career advice and support in association with local music education hubs.

Head of Liverpool UNESCO City of Music Kevin McManus said the local music sector is an important economic driver for the city region.

“This programme will help ensure that the sector can continue to grow, creating skilled jobs here, retaining talent in the region and making it a place where other music businesses want to invest.”

After ten sold-out events in London, classical music company through the noise has announced the expansion of their of crowdfunded concerts in unconventional venues to Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham.

The concerts, called noisenights, are part of a movement to organise performances by classical musicians outside traditional concert halls. The gigs take place in grass-roots music venues, including clubs, pubs and music halls.

Inspired by London’s underground club scene and its successful jazz venues, the concerts offer either an early-evening rush hour-set or a late show in which the classical performance is followed by live jazz, funk and afrobeat acts.

The crowdfunding model used to finance the concerts allows backers to pledge money in return for tickets to their chosen concert and priority booking for future events. Only concerts that prove popular among funders go ahead.

“Following a tough few years, it’s encouraging to see how excited audiences are to support live music,” said through the noise Co-founder and Artistic Director Jack Bazalgette.

“After crowdfunding ten London noisenights in the past year, we’re grateful to our growing base of backers for enabling us to take our model for classical shows to audiences around the country.”

The new series of noisenights will feature Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Abel Selaocoe, Her Ensemble, Alexandra Whittingham, Esther Abrami, Plínio Fernandes, Roberts Balanas and Harry Baker.

BBC Young Musician winning cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason said his upcoming noisenight appearance with spoken word artist Harry Baker “will be a special opportunity to share music we love in a host of new settings around the country”. 

“As performers we respond so much to the space we are in, not just acoustically, but the energy of the room and the people in it,” he said.

Film composers in the early stages of their career will receive support and advice as part of a joint initiative launched by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) and the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF). 

The professional development scheme, called Film Composers Lab, will offer five UK-based composers the opportunity to expand their skills in film composition with Scottish film and TV composer John Lunn acting as Mentor alongside Danai Kokogia as Associate Co-Mentor.

RSNO Chief Executive Alistair Mackie said: “The RSNO is really happy to be working with the EIFF on a brand-new scheme for early-career composers.

"Combining the history, expertise and facilities of both organisations will provide a great platform for the group to explore new ways of working and I’m already looking forward to hearing what they produce."

EIFF Festival Producer Holly Daniel said: “Supporting emerging talent is an essential part of our creative ambition at EIFF. It’s wonderful to be partnering with the RSNO on this activity and to be able to bring our experiences and networks together to support emerging composers with this unique programme connecting the makers of music and film."

Applications for the scheme are open now, with a closing date of 5pm on Tuesday 11 October.

The number of UK musicians booked to play festivals in Europe has fallen, according to analysis by Best for Britain.

The campaign group calculated the average number of British bands playing three major European festivals - Benicassim in Spain, Sziget in Hungary, and Lollapalooza in Germany – between 2017 and 2019, and compared it to the number booked to play the same festivals in 2022.

The analysis found a decrease of 45%. While noting the small sample size, Best for Britain said the statistics remain “sobering” and enough to raise “concerns on the impact that Brexit might be having on the next generation of British musicians”.

The analysis follows calls from across the music industry for the UK government to do more to support UK musicians touring the EU post-Brexit.

DCMS and the Department of International Trade have committed £500,000 in new funding for the Museum Export Growth Scheme (MEGS).

The scheme, launched in 2014, aims to boost British music exports, helping artists to grow their profile in overseas markets by funding small to medium sized music companies. 

To date it has dispersed over £4.5m and generated £55.5m in export revenue. 

This latest round of funding comes on the heels of data from BPI which showed that British music exports reached a record high in 2021 of £590.8m.

Goldman Sachs analysis predicts that the global recorded music industry will more than double in the next decade, from $25.9bn in 2021 to $53.2bn by 2030. Should the UK match this growth rate, BPI said that British music exports revenue could reach £1.2bn by 2030.

“MEGS continues to be a crucial resource for independent artists and labels to help them breakthrough in overseas markets,” said Geoff Taylor, Chief Executive BPI, BRIT Awards & Mercury Prize. 

“We are pleased that the Government is committed to continuing to work in partnership with the music industry to maximise the UK’s music exports potential. 

“MEGS not only delivers for the UK economy but has had supported some of our best loved independent artists to achieve global success.”

Applications for MEGS funding will be open until 2 September. 

Fewer than one per cent of the dance music played on UK radio is made by a female solo artist or all-female band, a study has found.

The research, which looked at music played in 2020 and 2021, was conducted by the Jaguar Foundation, established by BBC Radio 1 DJ Jaguar Bingham.

The study found that women are also under-represented in the dance music charts, accounting for just five per cent of hits.

Bingham said she was "disappointed and saddened" by the findings, adding that the lack of female dance producers is "systemic", with many women discouraged from pursuing a career in music at an early age.

"If I think about when I was at school, boys were always encouraged to do more technical things like music production," she said.

"As a result, there are more men in that field, so they managed to take over the scene and become the majority. So anyone who isn't [a man] maybe feels shunned, doesn't feel comfortable or doesn't feel welcome."

The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has proposed not to refer the music streaming market to full investigation after a market study found that it is working well for consumers.

The office launched its study into the streaming market and the power of labels six months ago, following a DCMS Committee report that called for fundamental reforms.

The study aimed to investigate the streaming market “from creator to consumer” and to consider whether the dominance of major labels is stifling competition or leading to instances of “excessive power”.

“Our initial analysis shows that the outcomes for artists are not driven by issues to do with competition, such as sustained excessive profits,” said Sarah Cardell, Interim Chief Executive of the CMA. 

“We are now keen to hear views on our initial findings which will help guide our thinking and inform our final report.”

The Musicians' Union and The Ivors Academy have expressed disappointment at the CMA's decision. They say major labels' dominace, the supression of the value of music publishing and stagnant pricing remain issues in music streaming.

“The CMA's release highlights what it sees as positive impacts of music streaming, but we feel they have failed to recognise the very serious problems posed to creators," MU General Secretary Naomi Pohl added.

“In the long term, this could diminish the diversity of British music available to consumers as musicians are forced to seek other ways to make a living.”

“We had particularly hoped that the CMA would deliver for songwriters who are currently receiving a small share of streaming revenue.”

The CMA will share its findings with DCMS, the IPO and the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation to help support their research into whether artists’ rights can be strengthened in the music streaming market.

A final decision is due to be taken by the CMA early next year.