72% of respndents said their income from work in the EU had decreased since Brexit. Image credit: Shutterstock.
You may remember that earlier this year, the MU ran a survey asking our members and the wider music community about the current issues they are facing when touring in the EU.
Your answers were key to helping us assess the impact leaving the EU has had on touring musicians, and if our specialist information and guidance has been useful or needs improving.
Since the conclusion of the survey, we now find ourselves in the fortunate position of having a new Government to talk to; the Labour Government has pledged to fix the problems encountered by touring artists working in the EU.
This is very encouraging and the MU’s lobbying over the last four years has paid off, Labour are keen to engage. They have appointed Nick Thomas-Symonds as Minister for European Relations and told us they want to work at pace to address the barriers to touring.
Many thanks to those who responded to the survey.
Key findings
- 75% of respondents who had previously worked in the EU prior to the UK’s departure told us their bookings had declined.
- 79% said they had been unable to make up for the loss of that work by touring elsewhere in the world.
- 59% said touring the EU was no longer financially viable.
- 22% of respondents told us their volume of work had decreased by 75% and as a result, they no longer worked in the EU.
- 72% said their income from work in the EU had decreased.
- Those applying for an ATA Carnet reported additional costs between £300 and £2000.
- 41% said they had to hire equipment in the EU to avoid the cost of a Carnet, and 35% had to hire transport in the EU.
- 54% said their merchandise sales had been affected, and 24.5% said they experienced difficulties when moving merchandise between the UK and EU.
- 13% of respondents experienced all or part of their fees being withheld due to complications in connection with tax and national insurance.
Next steps
The results from over 200 respondents illustrate the consequences of leaving the EU without provisions within the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) to support touring musicians.
From the data provided, there is no doubt that there has been a significant impact on the work of touring musicians, artists and their crew.
The MU is working closely with LIVE (Live Music Industry Venues & Entertainment) and UK Music (both of which the Union is a member of), to take to Government the arguments that they will need to address the issues that touring musicians face.
They will also now work with their EU counterparts to seek to reach an agreement for touring musicians and their crews, from both the UK and the EU.
Catch up on our recent meetings with Government to address touring concerns for musicians working in the EU.
Read more
A significant moment
Dave Webster, MU Head of International says: “This is a significant moment for us. It’s very encouraging to hear the need to find solutions for touring musicians mentioned so often by the Labour Ministers.
“We look forward to working with our music industry colleagues and Labour to drive this process forward. It is refreshing to have our concerns finally taken seriously. The last four years have now paid dividends in winning the argument for change.”