Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to This Is Music 2023, published by UK Music on 7 November 2023, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on the music sector of the decline in the physical music market in 2022 cited in that report.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The way people consume music has changed significantly over the past decade, and the industry’s continued success has come from embracing technology. As referenced in UK Music’s This is Music report 2023, there has been a ‘shift to streaming’ from physical sales.
Whilst the BPI have reported that Vinyl LP purchases grew for a 15th consecutive year in 2022, This is Music reports that the physical market declined by 10.5% in 2022. However, streaming revenues grew across all fronts. Subscription revenues for premium services grew by 4.8% in 2022, ad-supported services grew by 22.3%, and video streaming such as YouTube and TikTok grew by 11.2% in 2022.
The headline figures from the UK Music report outline that in 2022, UK music exports generated £4 billion; the music industry’s contribution to the UK economy was £6.7 billion (GVA); and total UK music industry employment was 210,000. Across all key commercial assets (musical composition, recorded music, live performance and brand image) revenues continued to grow in 2022.
The UK is the second biggest exporter of music globally and the Government is supporting the industry to retain this position in the international market by trebling the funding for the Music Exports Growth Scheme to £3.2m over the next two years.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to improve remuneration for musicians.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government is committed to maximising the potential of the UK music industry and its musicians.
In May 2023, alongside the publication of an industry-led agreement on metadata, the Government announced it would be establishing an industry working group to explore further issues around creator remuneration.
We expect to shortly publish the terms of reference and membership, with the first working group meeting expected to take place soon thereafter.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November 2023 to Question 1382 on Music: Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to Music Education Hubs of increased employer contributions to the teachers’ pension scheme.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The department will announce further details on the increased employer contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), including the approach for centrally employed teachers, and funding rates and allocations, in due course. In the meantime, the department can confirm that the existing TPS grant to non-local authority Hub Lead Organisations will continue to the end of August 2024.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department is taking steps to help support the visa applications of (a) artists and (b) other professionals for the WOMEX international music convention in October 2024.
Answered by Robert Jenrick - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
Officials from UK Visas and Immigration have already engaged with the organisers of the WOMEX International Music Convention (2024) in August this year. UKVI officials will continue to work with the organisers to support the visa application process for artists and other professionals.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many times and on what dates she has attended meetings of the Expert Advisory Panel on Cultural Education.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Cultural Education Plan will ensure that all young people, regardless of their background, can access high-quality cultural education. Among other things, this is an important step in delivering our Creative Careers Promise, set out in the Creative Industries Sector Vision, which aims to build a pipeline of talent into our creative industries, from primary school onwards.
Development of the plan is being led by a panel of 22 experts, including teachers and education leaders, and representatives from the performing arts, libraries, museums, heritage and youth sectors, and the creative industries. While development of the Cultural Education Plan is being driven by the Expert Advisory Panel, the Minister for Arts & Heritage (Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay) and the former Minister for Schools (Nick Gibb MP) have attended panel meetings on multiple occasions.
Furthermore, the panel is being informed by a series of 50 listening exercises with representatives from across the creative, cultural, education and youth sectors. Lord Parkinson joined one of these listening exercises held at the Royal Opera House with teachers and educationalists from across the country.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of a ticket levy on (a) arenas, (b) stadiums and (c) major festivals to support grassroots live music.
Answered by John Whittingdale
His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting our grassroots music venues, which play an absolutely crucial role in our world-leading music sector and developing homegrown talent.
That is why we are supporting live music through a range of measures. This includes an additional £5 million to Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) successful Supporting Grassroots Music fund, as set out in the Creative Industries Sector Vision in June. This £5 million expands and extends ACE’s existing grassroots fund, open since 2019, and takes our total investment in grassroots music through the fund to almost £15 million. This fund will enable venues to increase support for young and emerging artists, improve equipment and physical infrastructure, and support venues to become more financially resilient and develop new income streams.
This is in addition to other government support provided to the live music sector, including over £3 million during the pandemic from the Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund. The Culture Recovery Fund also provided over £200m of support for live music venues, and further support was provided through the £800m Live Events Reinsurance Scheme, alongside the cross-sector grants, loans, and reduction of VAT on tickets to 5%.
Through ACE, the Government has also supported the Music Venue Trust’s ‘Own Our Venues’ initiative, providing £500,000 which will help the Trust acquire the freeholds of grassroots music venues at risk of closure. DCMS Ministers attended the opening of the first acquisition, ‘The Snug’ in Atherton, Greater Manchester, in October.
Music venues are also eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief, with a 75% relief up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business. This relief was extended for a further year during the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement last week. DCMS and DLUHC are also working closely with the sector to revise planning guidelines to ensure that new developments engage with existing music venues before being built.
We have no plans to impose a ticket levy. Industry-led discussions are ongoing regarding increased support for grassroots music venues from larger events and venues.
We understand that the DCMS Select Committee will shortly be launching an inquiry into live music, and we will consider the Committee’s report once it is published.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will hold a consultation on support for live music.
Answered by John Whittingdale
His Majesty’s Government is committed to supporting our grassroots music venues, which play an absolutely crucial role in our world-leading music sector and developing homegrown talent.
That is why we are supporting live music through a range of measures. This includes an additional £5 million to Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) successful Supporting Grassroots Music fund, as set out in the Creative Industries Sector Vision in June. This £5 million expands and extends ACE’s existing grassroots fund, open since 2019, and takes our total investment in grassroots music through the fund to almost £15 million. This fund will enable venues to increase support for young and emerging artists, improve equipment and physical infrastructure, and support venues to become more financially resilient and develop new income streams.
This is in addition to other government support provided to the live music sector, including over £3 million during the pandemic from the Emergency Grassroots Music Venues Fund. The Culture Recovery Fund also provided over £200m of support for live music venues, and further support was provided through the £800m Live Events Reinsurance Scheme, alongside the cross-sector grants, loans, and reduction of VAT on tickets to 5%.
Through ACE, the Government has also supported the Music Venue Trust’s ‘Own Our Venues’ initiative, providing £500,000 which will help the Trust acquire the freeholds of grassroots music venues at risk of closure. DCMS Ministers attended the opening of the first acquisition, ‘The Snug’ in Atherton, Greater Manchester, in October.
Music venues are also eligible for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief, with a 75% relief up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business. This relief was extended for a further year during the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement last week. DCMS and DLUHC are also working closely with the sector to revise planning guidelines to ensure that new developments engage with existing music venues before being built.
We have no plans to impose a ticket levy. Industry-led discussions are ongoing regarding increased support for grassroots music venues from larger events and venues.
We understand that the DCMS Select Committee will shortly be launching an inquiry into live music, and we will consider the Committee’s report once it is published.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of state-funded secondary schools had their own music performance facilities in (a) 2010, (b) 2015, (c) 2019 and (d) 2022.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Arts Council England is leading the Music Hubs investment programme at the invitation of the department. As the programme is ongoing, information about the number of applications is commercially sensitive so cannot be published. The plan is for applicants to be informed of the outcome of the investment programme by April 2024, although they will be informed earlier if this is possible.
In relation to music performance facilities in secondary schools, the department does not collect this information. The National Plan for Music Education, published in June 2022, sets out the department’s strategy to 2030 and maintains the government’s commitment to high quality music education for all. Starting in September 2023, all state-funded schools are asked to teach music to 5- to 14-year-olds for at least an hour a week each term, supported by co-curricular learning and musical experiences. It is for schools to decide what facilities are required to meet this expectation, including the specific expectation in the Plan in relation to space for rehearsals and individual practice.
In relation to the Cultural Education Plan, the department has been working closely with the Department for Media, Culture and Sport, and has conducted extensive engagement with external stakeholders across the education and cultural sectors and appointed an Expert Advisory Panel in July 2023. Both the Panel and the stakeholder engagement are helping to inform the development of the Plan and its emerging proposals. The department will publish the Cultural Education Plan in the coming months.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department’s planned timescale for launching its Cultural Education Plan is.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Arts Council England is leading the Music Hubs investment programme at the invitation of the department. As the programme is ongoing, information about the number of applications is commercially sensitive so cannot be published. The plan is for applicants to be informed of the outcome of the investment programme by April 2024, although they will be informed earlier if this is possible.
In relation to music performance facilities in secondary schools, the department does not collect this information. The National Plan for Music Education, published in June 2022, sets out the department’s strategy to 2030 and maintains the government’s commitment to high quality music education for all. Starting in September 2023, all state-funded schools are asked to teach music to 5- to 14-year-olds for at least an hour a week each term, supported by co-curricular learning and musical experiences. It is for schools to decide what facilities are required to meet this expectation, including the specific expectation in the Plan in relation to space for rehearsals and individual practice.
In relation to the Cultural Education Plan, the department has been working closely with the Department for Media, Culture and Sport, and has conducted extensive engagement with external stakeholders across the education and cultural sectors and appointed an Expert Advisory Panel in July 2023. Both the Panel and the stakeholder engagement are helping to inform the development of the Plan and its emerging proposals. The department will publish the Cultural Education Plan in the coming months.
Asked by: Baroness Keeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many applications have been received for funding from the music hub investment programme (a) in total and (b) in each geographic area as of 22 November 2023.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Arts Council England is leading the Music Hubs investment programme at the invitation of the department. As the programme is ongoing, information about the number of applications is commercially sensitive so cannot be published. The plan is for applicants to be informed of the outcome of the investment programme by April 2024, although they will be informed earlier if this is possible.
In relation to music performance facilities in secondary schools, the department does not collect this information. The National Plan for Music Education, published in June 2022, sets out the department’s strategy to 2030 and maintains the government’s commitment to high quality music education for all. Starting in September 2023, all state-funded schools are asked to teach music to 5- to 14-year-olds for at least an hour a week each term, supported by co-curricular learning and musical experiences. It is for schools to decide what facilities are required to meet this expectation, including the specific expectation in the Plan in relation to space for rehearsals and individual practice.
In relation to the Cultural Education Plan, the department has been working closely with the Department for Media, Culture and Sport, and has conducted extensive engagement with external stakeholders across the education and cultural sectors and appointed an Expert Advisory Panel in July 2023. Both the Panel and the stakeholder engagement are helping to inform the development of the Plan and its emerging proposals. The department will publish the Cultural Education Plan in the coming months.