Monday, 05 February 2024
Touring theatre company Theatre Alibi is set to become an arts venue after opening a permanent base.
Prior to losing its Arts Council England (ACE) National Portfolio status, which equated to £241,597 of annual funding, the company developed touring plays from a base at Exeter’s Emmanuel Hall.
It now plans to use the hall as a child-centred arts venue, named The Centre for the Imagination for... read more
Monday, 05 February 2024
Music sector body LIVE has launched a survey to understand and identify changes required to improve the experience of freelancers working in the live music industry.
The Hidden Side of Freelancing will explore pay transparency and the personal experiences of freelancers at live music events.
It can be completed anonymously. The results will be assessed, then used in a publicly available report... read more
Monday, 05 February 2024
An art gallery in Great Yarmouth that opened three years ago has been put on the market after failing to cover running costs once its grant funding ran out.
The Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust (GYPT), which owns the Yare Gallery, said that rising costs of wages, utility bills, maintenance and insurance led to the gallery's closure last year after its grant funding from the National Lottery... read more
Yare Gallery in Great Yarmouth has gone up for sale (Eastern Daily Press)
Friday, 02 February 2024
Council spending on cultural services fell by 43% between 2010-11 and 2022-23 in real terms, according to analysis by The Guardian.
During that period, the figures show a decline in local authority investment in all areas except social care, with cuts of 40% for roads and transport, 35% for housing and 33% for planning and development.
The analysis follows an announcement from the government of a... read more
Thursday, 01 February 2024
Police are investigating alleged electoral fraud at the Actors Benevolent Fund (ABF) following suspicions of voter irregularity at its board elections.
After completing an internal investigation, ABF said that it had disregarded 156 online votes cast during its January board elections when it emerged they had originated from only two digital mailboxes.
“This accounts for over 50% of online votes... read more
Thursday, 01 February 2024
Ministers have had to restart the process of recruiting a new chair for the V&A Museum, according to a report from Sky News.
It claims that Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has had to restart the search for a successor to Sir Nicholas Coleridge after the original frontrunner, Samir Shah, accepted the opportunity to Chair the BBC.
The original recruitment opened last April, with... read more
Wednesday, 31 January 2024
A code of practice to provide clarity over methods of calculating and reporting revenues from music streaming has been published.
Music Week reports that the voluntary code, published by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), has been developed and agreed by 12 music industry bodies representing music creators, record labels, publishers, digital service providers, distributors and collecting... read more
Tuesday, 30 January 2024
Dorset Museum and Art Gallery needs to triple its current footfall to meet increased running costs following a £16.4m expansion.
Speaking to the BBC, Executive Director Clare Dixon said the organisation was facing a “critical time” as it has struggled to attract enough visitors to meet its costs since it reopened in 2021 after a two-year-long major reconstruction.
Dixon said Covid, the cost-of-... read more
Tuesday, 30 January 2024
A pot of £15.2m will be available for cultural organisations across England in the latest round of funding under the government's Cultural Development Fund, it has been announced.
So far, 20 projects have received a combined total of £76.8m from the fund since 2019, with arts centres, community venues and heritage buildings among the beneficiaries.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said... read more
Monday, 29 January 2024
The Plaza Theatre in Romsey, Hampshire has defended its decision to go cashless after receiving criticism on social media. They will be card only from 31 March.
Neil Gwynne, Chair of Romsey Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society which runs the volunteer-led venue, said it was the right decision for the theatre’s long-term future.
“We made the decision because the overwhelming majority pay by card... read more
Romsey's Plaza Theatre criticised for going cashless (Hampshire Chronicle)
Monday, 29 January 2024
Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) has announced that it distributed £10.1m in Artist’s Resale Right (ARR) royalties in 2023.
The sum was split between 1,893 visual artists and estates, 228 of which were first-time payments to artists whose works had only recently begun selling above the threshold value of €1,000 on the secondary market.
ARR was introduced into UK law in 2006. Since... read more
Monday, 29 January 2024
People who play a musical instrument or sing have better brain health as they age, a study by the University of Exeter has found.
Scientists found that among 1,108 participants with an average age of 68, playing a musical instrument was associated with significantly better memory, with keyboard or piano players scoring the highest on average.
Singing in a choir was also found to improve brain... read more
Monday, 29 January 2024
Reading Borough Council has submitted plans for a £13.7m overhaul of The Hexagon theatre.
The proposals include the demolition of unused parts of the building and the addition of a new extension with a 300-seat auditorium and performance space.
If approved, work on the project could begin in August, with the theatre remaining open during construction
The update is part of a broader regeneration... read more
Monday, 29 January 2024
The Jamie Lloyd Company (JLC) has ended its 10-year partnership with the Ambassador Theatre Group, becoming an independent company for the first time.
Led by Artistic Director and Executive Producer Jamie Lloyd, JLC's work includes productions of Sunset Boulevard starring Nicole Scherzinger and Lucy Prebble's The Effect.
Jamie Lloyd said: “It has long been the intention for The Jamie Lloyd... read more
Friday, 26 January 2024
A company that owns a nationwide chain of music venues has announced record profits for the 2023 financial year.
The Electric Group owns and operates live music venues, including Electric Brixton, SWX Bristol and NX Newcastle.
The company reported earnings of £1.98m for 2023, up from £1.04m in 2022 and £1.36m for the year before the pandemic.
It is hoping to expand its operations and is assessing... read more
Record profits for music venue operator (Insider Media)