Facing the music of Brexit became a reality in January 2020, as musicians and their support staff must now contend with a bewildering and time-consuming array of red tape that, especially for bands and artistes that do not have an expensive administrative network behind them, has removed all hope of plying their trade beyond these shores. Add in the restriction of them only being allowed to stay in the EU for 90 days in every 180, and careers are being arbitrarily destroyed.
Britain’s capacity to lead the music world for the past seven decades or more has relied heavily on musicians’ ability to hone their craft by performing in front of a wide variety of audiences. When the country joined the European Union, the freedom of movement across borders enabled that task to become significantly easier.
Face the Music: it’s time for change
Now, the European Movement is taking up the fight on behalf of Britain’s beleaguered music fraternity, launching Face the Music, a new nationwide campaign for artistes and musicians. Aiming to shine the spotlight on the plight of musicians, touring artistes and backstage staff, the campaign is urging the government to negotiate a bilateral agreement, one which guarantees visa-free travel for UK artistes in the EU, and for EU artistes in the UK.
The ‘Face the Music’ campaign is planning a series of musical events across the country to spread its message. Among the first of them is A Summer Night’s Music which is being organised by Stratford 4 Europe on Thursday, 30 May in Stratford-upon-Avon and features a multinational ensemble of musicians from the Birmingham Conservatoire. The award-winning Epsilon Brass group will play a varied programme, while the Cantrelle Flute Quintet is comprised of a talented cast of second-year students from the Conservatoire. The event, sponsored by the European Movement, is free to attend but tickets must be reserved via Eventbrite.
Damage limitation
The damage wreaked by Brexit cannot be underestimated. In an article for Central Bylines late last year, freelance technician Tim Brennan highlighted the vast range of obstacles that touring staff have to negotiate if they are to undertake work in the EU.
We spoke to recently retired tour manager, Trevor Long who, during a 50-year career worked with artistes as diverse as Duran Duran, Haircut 100, Robert Plant, The Fall and Dexy’s Midnight Runners, confirms the story: “When we were in the EU, a tour entourage could slip across borders with ease and with little or no obstruction to add cost. Nowadays paperwork must be presented at every border and has to cover not only staff visas but every single piece of equipment, down to the last cable or drumstick.”
He continued: “It’s a nightmare of admin, admin and more admin and is prohibitively costly in both time and money.” He concludes: “There are very fine margins involved in ensuring a tour breaks even, and Brexit has loaded the dice heavily against that happening. It’s simply not worth acts taking the risk.”
Factoring in all the associated elements, including income for venues, suppliers, taxes and more, in 2019 the creative industries generated £119bn for the UK economy. Earlier this year, The Music Venues Trust released a report saying that over 125 UK venues abandoned live music entirely, with over half closing down completely. With homegrown performance outlets closing and the options to play live in Europe significantly curtailed, one wonders if we are witnessing the slow death of a UK music industry that has led the world for so long.
Reasons for optimism, or a curtain call?
It seems that the ‘Face the Music’ campaign may have timed its appearance fortuitously. There are signs that politicians are waking up to just how much of a disaster Brexit has been for Britain’s creative industries. Labour leader Keir Starmer has promised to look into the possibility of visa-free travel in the EU for musicians and touring staff, while the Liberal Democrats also promise “to negotiate free and simple short-term travel arrangements for UK artistes to perform in the EU and for European artistes to perform in the UK”.
Sir Elton John has called the Brexit restrictions a “looming catastrophe” for Britain’s creative industries and calls on politicians to fix a “gaping hole” in the deal. It’s a hole that needs to be filled urgently, before the curtain comes down on one of the few industries left in which the UK is truly ‘world beating’.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
