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Royalty payments made by PRS for Music stood firm in 2020, with a record £700m distributed to 155,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers.

The £13m increase in payouts was achieved despite revenues having shrunk by £160m - almost 20% - compared with 2019. The mismatch was due to the royalties paid having been collected before the first lockdown.

PRS is warning of difficulties to come. The sharp decline in income last year will be reflected in distributions to music creators through 2021 and beyond, with returns expected to fall by at least 10%.

With the majority of live music events cancelled or postponed due to Covid-19, revenues generated from live performances declined most, falling by almost 80% from £54m in 2019 to just £11m in 2020.

Public performance revenue, which includes music used in business premises, shops, cinemas, pubs, clubs, hotels and restaurants, fell by over 60% (£136m), again due to business closure.

Revenue generated from music played online was the only area that grew in 2020, rising by 5% to £188m.

A new artist development programme will mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of Northern Ireland's parliament.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis announced the scheme for talented young artists as part of a series of initiatives commemorating the 1921 event. 

21 Artists for the 21st Century will be open to young people aged 18 to21 across all art forms and creative disciplines. Twenty-one successful applicants will be connected with experienced mentors, who in turn will receive advice on career planning and business development.

Each student will receive a bursary for the duration of their agreed project and develop a piece of work with their mentor for showcase or exhibition. 

The scheme has been developed in collaboration with David Grant, a Senior Lecturer in Drama in the School of Creative Arts at Queen’s University, Belfast, former Managing Editor of Theatre Ireland magazine, Programme Director of the Dublin Theatre Festival, and Artistic Director of the Lyric Theatre, Belfast.

Coventry City of Culture's 'Green Code' has set sustainability standards for the event's own team as well as the organisations and suppliers it works with.

The code provides principles and expected behaviours around everything from travel and procurement to the way events are delivered, and challenges Coventry City of Culture Trust to improve the environmental friendliness of each event. 

Designed to be “adaptable and easily adoptable” for all cultural organisations, it gives freelancers, contractors, suppliers and co-producers minimum standards for delivering an “environmentally conscious” City of Culture programme.

Following further consultation, the trust will develop the green code for longer-term adoption by cultural institutions across Coventry and Warwickshire, aiming to complement existing policies, standards, and frameworks “without putting too much strain on organisations”.

A fundraising initiative to support post-pandemic reopening and recovery in Dundee has reached its target of £1m.

The Dundee Cultural Recovery Fund, launched in August last year, will benefit Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee Heritage Trust, Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre, Dundee Science Centre, and V&A Dundee, which led the fundraising campaign.  

Philanthropists have contributed £500,000, activating pledge by The Northwood Charitable Trust to match funding pound for pound.

The money will support the city’s cultural organisations as they prepare for activities this summer, including a major exhibition of new work by British artist Emma Talbot at Dundee Contemporary Arts, new digital season of theatre, dance, musicals and live music at Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre, and V&A Dundee’s new exhibition Night Fever: Designing Club Culture.

Tim Allan, Chair of V&A Dundee, described the fundraiser as “a truly unique campaign, unlike anything else in the UK”. It was “important that V&A Dundee utilised its resources and skills during the pandemic to lead this fundraising and it has been a huge success”, he said.   

England's arts leaders have called on political party leaders to investigate how Covid status certification could reduce the need for social distancing at venues and festivals.

In an open letter, they say: "We strongly support the Government’s ambition to return to full capacity audiences without restrictions as soon as possible, and we recognise that this can be only be achieved through gathering evidence that it is safe to remove or lessen restrictions".

READ MORE: Vaccine passports could deter more people from venues

Covid status certification, they wrote, should involve vaccination, a negative Covid test or an antibody test. It should not rely on proof of vaccination alone, and "must not be discriminatory". It should be a temporary measure, only used for as long as necessary and with clear exit criteria, the letter said said.

The 20 signatories include English National Ballet's Tamara Rojo; Nicholas Hytner, Director of Bridge Theatre; Alex Beard, CEO of Royal Opera House; Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Festival Republic; and Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director of the Young Vic.

Cultural organisations in the US are reporting an increase in new visitors despite overall visitor numbers decreasing.

Data company IMPACTS Experience collected data from 127 organisations in the country. It found the number of new visitors increased by 50% from around 9% of all visitors in 2019 to just over 14% in 2020. 

This is partly attributed to travel restrictions, which encourged people to visit art and cultural organisations in their own area.

The data also showed that the number of new visitors who identify as non-white increased. 15.3% of new visitors in 2020 identified as non-white, compared to 10.5% the previous year.