The UK Council of Music Makers (CMM) – a group comprising the Featured Arts Coalition, Music Managers Forum, Musicians’ Union, and more – is calling on the UK Government to implement a European touring transition fund.
The organisation hopes that such a fund will help musicians and crew combat drastically increased costs and bureaucracy posed by Brexit, and the EU and UK Government’s failure to reach a deal on visa-free touring, as they look to begin touring again when COVID-19 restrictions allow. Acknowledging and welcoming the support the UK Government has given people in extending the furlough and Self-Employment Income Support schemes, the group said "there is a further, immediate crisis for these workers now facing another blow due to Brexit disarray."
A statement shared by the group reads: "British artists played over 20,000 dates touring Europe (in 2019, pre-COVID), in turn employing more than 30,000 people (including musicians and crew), cementing our international reputation as leading the world in creating great music.
"Not only does live performance create critical revenue for performers and their teams, it also acts to fuel the creation of the music that sits at the core of our recorded industry. We need urgent help now to ensure British talent is not blocked from growing their audiences internationally in the short term which brings long term implications on loss of future revenue."
The group’s call for a European touring transition fund follows on from Labour MP Harriet Harman’s recent proposal of a plan to tackle the issue of touring post-Brexit.
