Black, Asian and ethnic minority representation in music industry at a record high

29 Oct 2020

UK Music launches a plan to keep up the momentum, as research shows the gains are concentrated in entry level positions rather than middle or senior management.

Rejected funding applicants seek the public's support

29 Oct 2020

Crowdfunding campaigns are sustaining those who missed out on a Cultural Recovery Fund grant - and some who were successful.

Northern Ireland opens £7.75m emergency fund

28 Oct 2020

The long-awaited grants scheme is focussed on the sector's renewal as much as its immediate survival.

Hay festival director suspended following employee allegations

27 Oct 2020

Peter Florence, director and co-founder of the Hay literary festival, has been suspended after an employee raised a formal grievance against him. But this move is said to be unrelated to reports that a festival employee was sexually assaulted in Abu Dhabi by a member of a Gulf royal family, who denies the allegation.

Scotland gears up for funding freelancers in need

23 Oct 2020

Crafts Council & Craft Scotland, Help Musicians, Society of Authors, Visual Arts Scotland and BECTU have been confirmed as the partners that will help Creative Scotland deliver the Scottish Government’s £5m Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers, due to open for applications next week.

The fund - which is  not competitive but will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis - is open to those in “immediate difficulty”, meaning already unable to meet essential costs. It will provide bursaries of between £500 and £2,000.

A similar fund in Wales closed in just one hour after heavy demand saw 'maximum application capacity' reached in many local authority areas.

Cultural Renewal Taskforce has met once since July

23 Oct 2020

The star-studded Cultural Renewal Taskforce charged with the sector's recovery has met just once since July.

DCMS confirmed the most recent meeting on October 13 was the taskforce's first in three months. 

No summary of the meeting is publicly available and DCMS declined to release minutes for that or any of its other eight meetings since May 22.

Previous meetings have lead to the creation of 47 pieces of guidance for the Covid-safe reopening of sectors under DCMS' purview, a spokesperson said.

 

Survey reveals the challenges of freelance work

23 Oct 2020

A survey by the Museum Freelance group has found that less than half of freelancers and consultants working with museums, galleries, heritage sites, archives and galleries feel they are valued and recognised for the work they do, and just 12% agree that sector organisations support freelancers. Only 19% said they are paid an appropriate day rate and 57% are not contributing to a pension.

Museum Freelance has developed a set of recommendations to help the sector address these issue, including developing best practice procurement processes, and implementing guidance on contractual issues.

Co-director Christina Lister said: “With a growing proportion of the museums workforce choosing to – or being forced to – turn to freelancing, it is now more important than ever that the sector tackles the issues identified in this survey."

 

Trusts and Foundations join forces to support live performance artists

23 Oct 2020

Financial and career support will be available to more "outstanding and visionary music creators, performance makers and producers" through a new fund aimed at supporting early- and mid-career individuals across music and the performing arts. Jerwood Arts has developed the Live Work fund which, in collaboration with Wolfson Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and The Linbury Trust, is offering £660k to give 33 performance artists a 12-month lifeline. £20k awards plus professional development support from expert mentors is aimed at enabling them to "adapt and thrive through the challenges presented by Covid-19".

 

Enhanced job support scheme does little for the arts, unions say

22 Oct 2020

Changes to the Job Support Scheme to reduce the burden on employers who can't operate due to local coronavirus restrictions will have little effect on the arts.

Theatres Trust Director Jon Morgan said theatres are suffering a downturn in business, but haven't been forced to close and therefore are ineligible for the increased support.

"We therefore urge the Chancellor to implement a sector specific support scheme for theatres and other events spaces which cannot reopen and are rapidly running out of money. This is vital to prevent further job losses on top of the 7,500 plus the industry has already suffered," Morgan said.

The Musicians' Union (MU) also called for further investment, noting the changes will not help freelancers accessing the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

SEISS income support will double, Rishi Sunak has announced, but this is not enough, say the MU.

"The UK’s music industry is a viable industry, which the Government’s Covid-19 restrictions are keeping closed. They now have a responsibility to look after this industry, and the musicians and freelancers who make it the envy of the world."

 

Welsh Recovery funding throws a lifeline to 95% of applicants

22 Oct 2020

Organisations put forward “a strong case for support”, leading to a total of £20m in allocations.

Culture Recovery Fund grants raise transparency questions

22 Oct 2020

588 more organisations have received Culture Recovery Fund grants in England worth £76m, but information about how many were unsuccessful is no longer being shared.

166,000 live music jobs 'gone by Christmas'

22 Oct 2020

Culture Recovery Fund grants are expected to save more than 10,000 roles. What happens next will determine whether the industry emerges "bruised but intact or devastated and demoralised".

UK Music pushes for the end of references to 'BAME'

22 Oct 2020

As part of a drive to boost diversity and inclusion in the music industry, UK Music’s Diversity Taskforce is calling on the sector to drop the “outdated and offensive” term BAME. The recommendation to end its use has followed discussions across the music industry and in a series of focus groups. The research found that the term is "seen as misleading and inappropriate by many, particularly those from diverse communities."

Taskforce Chair Ammo Talwar said: "There is now an unstoppable momentum for change at pace to rapidly improve diversity in the music business and across society... It’s a key step on the path to an inclusive, welcoming culture that we all want to foster.
 
“If there is a need to refer to people’s heritage, it is far better to use a word like ‘Black’, ‘Asian’ or something more specific - rather than a careless catch-all acronym."

Turner Prize to go to Coventry

22 Oct 2020

Coventry's year as UK City of Culture, now due to start on 15th May 2021, will include the hosting of the Turner Prize at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. The work of the shortlisted artists will be exhibited from the end of September through to mid January 2022, with the winner announced on 1st December. Most of the City of Culture programme will be announced at the beginning of next year, though organisers have shared that singer Terry Hall of the Coventry band The Specials will be curating a three-day festival.

Festivals are 'in danger of becoming invisible'

21 Oct 2020

Major festivals call for a Government-backed insurance scheme as events receive millions in emergency funding.

Sector looks to digital for post-pandemic bounce

21 Oct 2020

Cultural organisations and funders are investing in digital to keep artistic activity alive - whether social distancing rules persist or not.

£500k business rates "sham" exposed in the High Court

19 Oct 2020

The arts activities of the company Preservation and Promotion of the Arts have been labelled a “sham” at the High Court after local authorities took legal action. The company has helped owners of office blocks and business parks to avoid paying business rates on empty buildings by hosting pop-up events. Birmingham City Council, said it pursued the case "on behalf of the city’s inhabitants and legitimate charities".

Council gives the go-ahead to cultural quarter proposals for Swindon

19 Oct 2020

The arts, cultural and business sectors in Swindon are joining forces to develop a plan for a new cultural quarter to help revive the town centre and expand its cultural offer. A new theatre to replace the Wyvern is at the heart of the plans, which include a dance centre, digital media and arts hub, and new museum and art gallery. It is estimated the development could add more than £35m a year to Swindon’s economy and create up to 1,200 jobs.

Arts in the curriculum stabilises though teacher numbers are down

19 Oct 2020

While pupil numbers in England’s secondary schools grew by 5% over the past two years, the number of arts teachers fell by 4%. The number of hours of classroom teaching delivered in arts subjects has broadly stabilised during that period, though the EBacc subjects of History and Geography have seen 4% rises in the number of hours taught in the same time period. 

Unease grows over Recovery Fund grant allocations

Glitterballs
16 Oct 2020

Large grants to commercial operators, the comments of unsuccessful applicants and the conditions attached to funding awards have all provoked questions about England’s Cultural Recovery grants.

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