UK Music – of which the Musicians’ Union (MU) is a member – and Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, today unveiled a radical plan to grow Liverpool’s world-famous music scene.
UK Music CEO Michael Dugher and Metro Mayor Rotheram pledged their support for a new Music Board, with the aim of cementing Liverpool’s place as one of the world’s music capitals, and nurturing the region’s talent.
Taking its inspiration from similar initiatives in San Francisco and London, the new Music Board would co-ordinate efforts to safeguard and grow the Liverpool City Region’s music eco-system.
Taking inspiration from the London Music Board
The proposed plans take inspiration from the London Music Board, which was established by the Mayor of London and Greater London Authority in 2016.
The aim of the London Board is to oversee a rescue plan for music venues, and ensure all Londoners can benefit from living in a music city. Its remit also includes the introduction of pro-cultural planning and licensing policies, and increasing music tourism across the capital.
In Liverpool, this could involve improving transport links for music fans and protecting music venues, as well as increasing access to music education and rehearsal spaces.
The Music Board would be community and industry led with the aim of developing a strategy to boost music across the City Region. It will work closely with all the combined local authorities including Sefton, Halton, Knowsley, St Helens, the Wirral and Liverpool.
Harnessing talent and creative energy
Metro Mayor, Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram commented:
“One of my biggest ambitions as Metro Mayor is to harness the talent and creative energy of our people, to ensure that it can thrive and prosper here.
“In truth, artists from every part of our City Region have contributed to the lustre of Liverpool’s musical reputation.
“I will be writing to the leaders of all City Region local authorities to ask them to nominate members for the Board, as well as to members of the advisory panel for Culture Liverpool’s recent music strategy.
“I want music to be an essential thread of our Fourth Industrial Revolution economy. It’s integral to who we are, so we need to ensure it is a fundamental component of what we will be in the future.”
A huge contribution to the economy and cultural scene
The plans for the Music Board were unveiled today, at the launch event for UK Music’s new ‘Wish You Were Here – Liverpool City Region Edition’, which outlines the huge importance of music to the Liverpool area.
The report – which collates a vast amount of data from the latest ticketing and other sources in 2016 – reveals the following about the Liverpool City Region:
- The total direct and indirect spending by music tourists to the City Region in 2016 was £135 million.
- The total live music audience in the Liverpool City Region in 2016 was 937,000.
- Festivals in the City Region area in 2016 generated £23.3 million and drew a total audience of 237,000.
- Live events in the Wirral and St Helens generated £1.2 million each in box office spend in 2016.
- 22,834 people went to gigs and festivals in Sefton in 2016 generating £929,000 in spend.
Golden opportunity to grow the music industry
Commenting, UK Music CEO Michael Dugher said:
“Liverpool has a fantastic musical heritage. Its continuing success is clear to see in our new report which shows almost one million people enjoyed live music events in 2016, helping generate £135 million for the Liverpool City Region’s economy.
“I strongly believe that under the fantastic leadership of Steve Rotheram we now have a golden opportunity to set up a Music Board to seize the moment and grow the music industry across every corner of the Liverpool City Region.
Find out more about music in the Liverpool area
If you’d like to know more, you can download the full ‘Wish You Were Here – Liverpool City Region Edition’ report for free.