(Title Image: Senedd Cymru)
Culture Committee
The Live Music Industry (pdf)
Published: 18th December 2020
- Committee calls for a dedicated music strategy following complaints about a lack of direction.
- Creative Wales tasked with live music “mapping exercise” due to dearth of Wales-only data on the state of the industry.
- Support for a “rescue fund” to protect culturally-significant music venues.
The number of live music venues in the UK has reportedly declined by 35%. Although there are no figures available for Wales-only, there have been high-profile examples of live music venues being threatened by and/or saved from developers.
Musicians have also become more reliant on revenues from live performances as physical sales decline and low margins from online streaming – said to be as low as 0.3p-per-play (meaning 50,000 plays would generate just £150).
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, the finances of live music venues were described as “precarious”. Creative Wales has been tasked with a “mapping exercise” to fill knowledge gaps, but the pandemic may have threatened venues which were otherwise solvent.
One common complaint throughout the inquiry is a lack of strategic direction. The Committee and witnesses support a Welsh Government-led national music strategy, the case for which is said to have been strengthened by the pandemic.
Another finding was a gap in financial support for live music.
While the Arts Council provides grants to fund music festivals and events, the demise of the Welsh Music Foundation in 2014 is said to have negatively impacted the support and advice offered to musicians themselves.
Some witnesses even went so far as to describe the Arts Council as cultural gatekeepers. According to figures included in an annexe, around 63% of Arts Council grants went to theatre and opera and just under 5% to music.
There was also discussion around a lack of multi-purpose venues and rehearsal space as well as low production values in rural venues. The Committee recommended a “rescue fund” to purchase under-threat music venues with high cultural value.
Additionally, there were recommendations concerning the music curriculum in Wales (which should be brought up to date to include modern music genres).
There were also calls for greater protection for pre-existing music venues in planning policy, as well as work to determine if there’s a racial bias in granting licences to music venues and events (the police determine some genres, like grime, to be a security risk).
