Council of Music Makers Urges Support for ‘Broadest Cross-Section of Our Industry’

The UK Council of Music Makers, of which the MU is a part, has released a statement welcoming the Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund, and expressing its hopes for the future.

The UK Council of Music Makers (CMM) - comprising FAC, Ivors Academy, MMF, MPG and the MU - welcomes the guidance for the Cultural Recovery Fund to be distributed by Arts Council England, and will now review it in detail before applications open on 10 August.

CMM acknowledges that this is a hugely complex process but as emphasised in their letter to Government earlier this month, the primary aim of such unprecedented funding should be to support the broadest cross-section of our industry to facilitate a safe return to live music economic activity.

Utilising the Recovery Fund to support live and studio music businesses, alongside support for freelance creative professionals through Project Funding, should help accelerate a return to safe live events, and allow money to start flowing through the ecosystem again.

Together these funds – with the new £2m open to crew, stage managers and technicians – should provide the best opportunity to support more workers, including the creators and performers, and all those roles that are dependent upon live music.

It is about livelihoods, jobs and the future

While we will never salvage completely what's been lost, until social distancing is removed, subsidising of activity will be required. Carefully targeted funding will help water the green shoots of recovery in the Creative Industries and their contribution to the UK economy.

A Government-backed Insurance Scheme – like that provided to our creative colleagues in film and TV production – is a welcome provision for wider Culture and we would urge decision makers to extend such a scheme to our valuable Live Music Industry.

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