New funding and potential changes to licensing law have been proposed by the DCMS to address issues revealed by the report of the Live Music Forum in July 2007. The report indicated that while the impact of the Licensing Bill was broadly neutral, certain types of smaller venue had significantly reduced the amount of live music performance.
Research undertaken by the British Market Research Bureau for the DCMS showed that live music provision in the UK had fallen by 5% since 2004. Most affected venues are restaurants and community halls for which live music is not the primary activity. The government plans to explore an exemption for this type of venue. The DCMS will also fund a £500,000 two-year pilot scheme to provide professionally equipped community rehearsal spaces for young people. The Department also plans to work with the Mayor of London to secure the future of key music venues in London, and with the National Union of Students to re-establish a live music network for universities.
Published: 14-01-2008