Ten live musicians. One hundred and sixty cameras. Two hundred and ninety-one speakers. Five hundred moving lights. One thousand Industrial Light & Magic visual effects experts, working one billion computing hours. One thousand, six hundred seats. Eight hundred and seventy thousand watts of audio amplification. And 65 million pixels on one state-of-the-art screen.

Yes, the sheer weight of technology that has gone into the production of the ground-breaking ABBA Voyage show is staggering. But there have also been equal amounts of heart and soul poured into a passion project that was five years in the making, and might just change the face of global live entertainment forever.

ABBA Voyage launched at the purpose-built ABBA Arena near Queen Elizabeth Park in East London in May, in front of an audience that included Kate Moss, Kylie Minogue and the King and Queen of Sweden. And it’s already booking through to May next year, after rave reviews for that opening show.

Key to its success is the building itself. It’s a marvel of construction, seemingly bigger on the inside than on the out, and built so that every seat (and, of course, the 1,400 standing places at the front) has a brilliant view. Meanwhile, the pre-programmed lighting effects and spectacular sound system mean that what sounded like it could have been a grand folly, is actually a key part of making the show work. Even if it did represent a unique challenge to show producers Svana Gisla and Ludvig Andersson.

“Neither of us have built a 3,000-capacity theatre before, so that’s an adventure!” laughs Andersson, speaking before the show launched. “And if that was the only thing we were doing, that would still have been quite a lot!”

“The reason we’re building this ridiculous building is because ABBA are digitally there and you are <<physically>> there,” explains Gisla. “The space that’s in-between becomes a space that we need to crack through, so we inhabit it together. It’s like a third dimension in a way and that’s what the tapestry of this building provides: that barrier breaker. It’s the connector that brings you to us and us to you and that’s what’s so magical and different about this concert – you don’t know where the digital ends and the physical begins.”

Remarkably, the show actually bears that bold statement out. It’s astonishing how quickly the audience forgets that they’re only watching digital, de-aged versions – or ABBAtars, if you insist – of Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Agnetha Fältskog. But then, after a brief period of adjustment as the prefab four emerge, and the limbs look a little too long and the movements seem a little robotic, this is an astoundingly immersive show.

So, whether you’re watching the avatars themselves or the enormous wraparound screens (which also host some slightly bizarre animations during some numbers, and joyous archive footage on Waterloo), or simply the light show, it is unnervingly like being at a real live, in-person event (and the crowd clap and scream as if it were the real ABBA performing, even though most of these dance moves would surely be beyond them nowadays).

Having a set stuffed with indelible hits, delivered by a surprisingly punchy live band – superbly marshalled by musical director James Righton of Klaxons fame – helps, of course (and Voulez-Vous, Dancing Queen, The Winner Takes It All and Knowing Me, Knowing You are all present and correct alongside a smattering of deeper cuts, although Super Trouper, Take A Chance On Me and Money, Money Money are notably absent).

But this isn’t robo-karaoke or a VR simulation. None of those vaguely creepy hologram shows or slightly disappointing in-game avatar concerts come anywhere close: this is not like anything you’ve seen before. But it is surely something that people will want to see again; whether that’s a return ticket to Voyage itself (other songs are apparently in the can so setlists can be updated and tweaked for seasonal demands in the future) or a similar show by different artists.

There is certainly potential for ABBA Voyage to run in different locations – the venue is even suitably Swedishly flat-packed, so could be relatively simply shifted elsewhere (“Get your Allen keys out,” laughs Gisla). London may be its most obvious home, but the ABBA brand has spread far and wide since the band originally split in 1982. And surely somewhere like Las Vegas would go wild for an open-ended residency that isn’t at the mercy of a visiting superstar deciding they don’t like the set at the last minute?

You can bet that the industry is also looking at the potential of the format for other acts. Few may have the patience (or the incredibly deep pockets) of ABBA, who committed so whole-heartedly to the project that not even a global pandemic could stop it. And not all the obvious iconic bands with pan-generational fanbases have all their members alive to engage in the process. The chance to leave a live legacy long after you’re too decrepit to lift a guitar will surely appeal to many, but can it really become the future of live entertainment?

“If we say yes to that question we’re doomed to fail, so I’m saying no!” laughs Ludvig Andersson. “I don’t think other bands should look at this thinking, ‘Great, we don’t have to tour anymore, we can just do this’. That’s looking at it the wrong way.

“The only chance of this becoming a success is because ABBA themselves want to do it exactly like this,” he adds. “They think this is the best way they can connect with their fans and the best experience they can give their fans, better in fact than if they had actually been there in the flesh.”

It’s another bold statement but one that, highlighted by the real ABBA shuffling on stage at the end of the premiere show – having fooled the crowd seconds before with a sprightlier digital rendering of their modern selves – also has the ring of truth about it.

And that means the live entertainment industry might end up having to thank ABBA for a lot more than just the music.

The post Abba Voyage Review appeared first on Audio Media International.

When Arcade Fire played KOKO on the 29^th of April, they joined a long list of legendary artists to rock the storied venue in Camden, North London.

But for the venue itself, Arcade Fire’s show was possibly even more significant than the times that the Rolling Stones, Prince, Madonna, AC/DC, Blur or Amy Winehouse strutted their stuff on the stage. Because it meant that KOKO was finally back in business.

For CEO Olly Bengough, it was vindication for 18 years of blood, sweat and tears. He first took a 50% stake in the venue in 2004 alongside Loton Corp, then took sole ownership in 2016.

KOKO closed for refurbishment in 2019 but, in 2020, a fire and the subsequent water damage destroyed its roof before the pandemic intervened and meant that KOKO – formerly known as The Music Machine and Camden Palace – was suddenly far from the only shuttered venue in London.

Bengough, however, stayed the course and the all-new KOKO is a stunning live venue, and so much more. As well as the celebrated main theatre, it now boasts a private members club, an in-house studio, a pizzeria, vinyl listening rooms, a rooftop bar and several other performance spaces, all lavishly appointed. It might still be in Camden, but its days as a sticky-floored indie fleapit are clearly behind it. It even <<smells>> nice.

KOKO is also re-embedding itself into the London live circuit, once again pulling music fans to Camden against the tide that has seen the scene shift east and south in recent years. The likes of Gabriels, Lianne La Havas, Jorja Smith and Pete Doherty have all played since the re-opening, while Flume, Yola, Jessie J, Cat Burns and Beth Orton all have dates scheduled.

AMI sat down with Bengough to learn how his KOKO dream finally became a reality…

Audio Media International: How difficult have the last couple of years been?

Olly Bengough: It’s been really difficult for everyone in the live industry. It’s been the most difficult era since people can remember. But on a positive note, you can see that everyone has missed it and it’s incredible to see how great the appetite is for live.

Audio Media International: Trying to do the refurb and fix the fire damage during the pandemic must have been tough…

Olly Bengough: I’ve had so many challenges along the way, the pandemic and doing construction through that was massive. But my team stuck together and sometimes that pushes you to look at things differently. We found a new venue called the Fly Tower during that period, so being delayed allowed us to see new spaces in the project and build new elements in. In some ways it’s added to the creative dimension of the whole new space. We’ve turned it into a positive.

Audio Media International: Why was it important for the venue to have so many different spaces?

Olly Bengough: The vision is, we live in a new world where everyone is looking for unique experiences. Koko will allow artists to create one-off, limited-edition events through the physical space and one-off digital events. Artists can take their fans on a journey that’s never been done before. That’s the vision – to allow artists creative freedom and a dynamic new way of entertaining and monetising their audience. They can play seven different, beautifully designed venues under one roof in one day. Their fans will get the incredible opportunity to watch them perform in the theatre or the Fly Tower or Ellen’s, which is a small hidden speakeasy, the penthouse, the radio station or the roof terrace. Fans will be able to experience a new type of innovative storytelling that only creates a deeper connection with the musicians.

Audio Media International: Are you hoping lots of artists will go for more ambitious projects rather than just playing a gig in the main room?

Olly Bengough: Artists can now create limited edition experiences online and offline. I don’t think anyone’s ever brought that to musicians in the way we do. It allows them to create one-off events and that’s got to be great for the musicians, because there aren’t enough spaces that really allow them to do all of that under one roof. The fact that they can decide how far they want to take their creative expression is great for them. That will lead to them creating different ways of monetising and connecting with their fans.

Audio Media International: How important is the venue’s history to the new KOKO?

OB: We’ve always broken musicians at an early stage of their career and then what’s amazing is, they then come back when they become stadium acts like Prince, Ed Sheeran or Madonna. We’ve got to focus on doing what we always do, championing and empowering future musicians, and curating the ones coming through well. Then when those artists have a good connection with us, of course we’d love having them back. We’ve built a radio station which helps us to promote new artists. We’ve got smaller venues they’ll be able to play and it’s really important that we talk through, what does a new act in London need in the future? What facilities? They might need a smaller venue so we’ve built one, they might need some green screen or promotion, so we built a radio station.

Audio Media International: Is this the future of live music venues? Will they all have to be multi-purpose in future?

Olly Bengough: No, I love basic spit and sawdust venues. But what has definitely changed is, everyone is looking for these multi-tiered experiences. The fans of tomorrow are looking for places where you can eat and drink, in beautifully designed spaces, listen to music with incredible audio and have an independent feeling. We live in a world where everything is so tech driven and actually you need a break from that and to feel like you’re part of something authentic. We’re bringing in an innovative approach that hasn’t been done before. But I don’t think you have to take that approach, you can have both.

Audio Media International: Ultimately, what will constitute success for KOKO five years down the line?

Olly Bengough: For me, success is working with a lot of talented creatives to host amazing musicians and find incredible new ways for those musicians to tell their stories to music fans. If we focus on that, hopefully eventually people will recognise Koko as something truly unique that’s never been seen before. That’s what success looks like.

Welcome to issue 7 of Audio Media International

The post Exclusive: KOKO CEO on the reopening of the legendary Camden venue appeared first on Audio Media International.

Festivals are happening. Hell, festivals are being washed out by torrential rain. I went to a gig last week, where people actually moshed and everything. And the record labels are gearing up for an autumn of unrestrained mega-releases.

In short, nature is healing, as the coronavirus pandemic finally – hopefully, fingers-and-everything-else crossed – shows signs of being in retreat and it starts to feel like music business as usual.

But, much as a battered and double-jabbed industry longs to get back to doing what it does best without restrictions, the industry shouldn’t just return to normal. Surely too much has changed, and too many have been through too much, for that to happen?

And so we present 13 lessons for the industry from the Covid-19 crisis…

HE WHO’S FAIR, WINS

Would the DCMS Committee inquiry into the economics of music streaming have even taken place if the Covid-19 pandemic never happened? We’ll never know for sure, but certainly the devastation of live incomes helped shine a brighter light on streaming revenues than had ever happened before. It also galvanised artists into backing the #BrokenRecord and #FixStreaming campaigns. And it was artist testimony that helped persuade the Committee into putting forward a series of recommendations that, if enacted, could reshape the entire music business. The government doesn’t actually have to do any of them, of course, and lobbying will be intense for the next couple of months, but things are already changing at both macro (Sony effectively deciding to write off all unrecouped balances for contracts signed pre-2000) and micro (my sources indicate many record deals now offer much more favourable terms) level. So, whatever the arguments on either side, the direction of travel seems clear – the only real question for the wider biz now is surely whether they want to get there under their own steam, or wait to be pushed.

Read the DCMS report highlights and what the industry thinks – we chat with the campaigners that made it happen.

THE DEVIL MAKES WORK FOR IDLE HANDS

Assuming the devil has all the best tunes, that is. True, every ‘lockdown album’ rushed out at the start of the pandemic sounded like it had been put together by hyperactive children on the exact day that homeschooling became too much for their parents but, later on, all that time at home paid huge creative dividends for the likes of Taylor Swift, who released two of the greatest albums of her career (Folklore and Evermore), and completely remade another of her classics (Fearless) in the time it would normally take to complete one leg of a world tour. If this doesn’t make people think about the way albums are made, promoted and toured, then the industry will be missing a trick.

Read our take on the Taylor Swift Fearless re-recording…

ECOSYSTEM FAILURE

The e-word is one of the most overused in the music industry lexicon, but the nightmare of the last 18 months has shown that it indubitably exists in the touring business. Turns out you can have all the headline acts you like, but without the venues, agents, promoters, roadies, security, bar staff and everyone else in the value chain, you aren’t going to have much of a show. Given that much of the sector has only survived through sheer passion and bloody-mindedness, let’s hope that’s remembered as live music returns and the industry expects the sector to just carry on as if nothing happened. Nurture the grassroots and the entire ecosystem will flourish.

GOODBYE TO THE OFFICE

Sorry, but it turns out you don’t need that big, shiny HQ in the middle of town after all. It’s hard to imagine the industry’s executives ever returning to the office five days a week now they’ve proved the industry can survive without the commute. Instead, expect music company’s buildings to evolve into creative hubs and actual face time to be reserved for things that are either really important, or really fun.

PUBLISHING IS OVER-PRICED, BUT STILL UNDER-VALUED

The pandemic didn’t just make artists take action on their recorded music revenues, it also made them take a long, hard look at the cash flowing in from their songwriting. No wonder many heritage artists decided to take the hefty multiples on offer from Hipgnosis, Primary Wave, Round Hill Music et al, with the majors also belatedly getting in on the act. Few of those veteran acts will live to regret it, but the younger ones also rushing to cash out might not be so lucky. The steady, eternal income provided by traditional publishing, along with greater control over your work, has long been the bedrock of the business. The industry needs to find a way to convince songwriters that playing the long game can also result in big wins.

HITS? WHO NEEDS HITS?

We knew it was getting harder and harder to break new acts long before there was a rush on hand sanitiser. But now it’s harder and harder to break new records full stop. Figures from the US show that 66.4% of music consumption now comes from catalogue material, while the numbers racked up by the biggest hits have dropped year-on-year (although some actual superstars releasing new music may of course change that). So how much longer before the emphasis at labels shifts from pushing new music to maximising the income from older hits?

THE LIVESTREAM DREAM

If pandemic accepted wisdom had a catchphrase, it was this: livestreaming will remain part of the picture, even once things go back to normal. But that’s only true if the industry doesn’t throttle its potential golden goose before it’s actually laid any eggs. The PRS For Music livestream tariff has already put some artists off the format, while the technical problems endured by anyone trying to watch Live At Worthy Farm or other high-profile events may have done the same for a chunk of the audience. Livestreaming needs support, reliable tech – and more ground-breaking, umissable shows like Dua Lipa’s Studio 2054 – if it’s to add up to anything more than a brief slot on future documentaries about how we coped with isolation.

Read the interview with the people behind the Glastonbury livestream.

DIVERSE INTENTIONS

When the #TheShowMustBePaused movement brought the music biz to a standstill in June 2020 in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, it felt like genuine change on industry diversity was in the air. One year on and, while there have been some key appointments and a degree of progress, too many of those grand statements made by companies about taking action against inequality and racism in the industry still reside in the ‘good intentions’ file. That needs to change, and fast.

LICENSED TO THRILL

Don’t ever call public performance licensing boring again. PPL and PRS may not operate at the sexiest end of the business but, despite plummeting revenues caused by the loss of income from shops, pubs, venues and clubs, their payouts have continued to show just how vital those operations are. Here’s to them coming back with a bang now things have opened up.

TIKTOK WON’T STOP

The social media phenomenon surged even further under lockdown. Going viral on TikTok has become an industry obsession, not to mention the one single way to absolutely guarantee a hit. But it’s also doing more than that – TikTok is changing the way records are constructed as well as taking songs – old and new, from any genre – giving them a new life and, in the process, becoming almost a new format. The question is, how far will the industry let TikTok creators go in pursuit of that hit?

CDS ARE ON THE WAY OUT. DON’T LET VINYL GO THE SAME WAY

Sainsbury’s may be the first supermarket to pull out of selling CDs, but it surely won’t be the last. And to do it in a year when new albums are expected from Ed Sheeran, Coldplay and Adele – the doyennes of the two-albums-a-year crowd – shows just how marginalised the format has become at non-specialist retail. Yet the industry still needs a budget physical option for those who can’t or won’t embrace streaming. Meanwhile, vinyl is in danger of becoming a victim of its own success, with the biz reverberating to daily tales of maxed-out capacity, pressing delays, Brexit delivery hell and endless represses of classic albums pushing out new, independent music. If the industry doesn’t fix this, the vinyl revival could yet hit a brick wall.

THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT YOUR FRIEND

True, the government has put its hand in its pocket a few times during the pandemic. But again and again, its policies and decision-making have let musicians and the music industry down. That’s why many won’t be able to tour Europe, even when the pandemic eases. That’s why so many festivals are off, because of a lack of a Covid insurance scheme. And that’s why so many self-employed workers have left the business, because they fell through the cracks of the support schemes. Yet some sections of the industry still carry on as if the Johnson administration is a vital ally. It isn’t, and the sooner the music business realises it, the better.

UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL

When the industry pulls together, it can achieve amazing things. The widespread support for the Music Venue Trust’s campaign to save grassroots concert halls shows that. But too often during the crisis, different sectors have been at each other’s throats, while the haves and have-nots divide has grown wider with every lockdown. The biz’s post-piracy recovery was characterised by a remarkable industry-wide unity. If it loses that completely, it could also lose a lot more. Time for everyone to cool the Twitter spats, take things offline and try and find some common ground, before the real sharks move in…

Read our interview with Isle of Wight Festival boss John Giddings…

The post Live music in the pandemic: The 13 lessons learned appeared first on Audio Media International.

Nothing in the music industry lasts forever, but HMV has come pretty close. The much-loved retailer celebrates its century this week, meaning it has essentially played a role in the career of every popular British recording artist ever. And, despite a rough few years that saw the UK’s last entertainment chain go into administration twice, before having to deal with the ravages of a pandemic, it’s still a big enough draw to have Ed Sheeran play its 100th birthday party next month.

And owner Doug Putman – who also owns Sunrise Records in Canada and FYE in the US and bought HMV in 2019 – remains relentlessly upbeat about the future, even after Covid-19 saw his stores closed for large chunks of the last 17 months. Indeed, HMV has just announced plans to open an additional 10 shops this year (the first, in Solihull, is already up and running) and to finally find a new London flagship location. HMV’s fabled Oxford Street shop closed its doors in 2019.

So Putman – wearing a Clash London Calling T-shirt and Zooming in from his native Canada – sat down with Audio Media International to discuss 100 years of music retail – and what happens next…

Why do you think HMV has survived where so many other retailers haven’t?
“It’s testament to the community that loves HMV. It’s had its challenges – two bankruptcies and whatnot – but it shows you that, even if there is a bankruptcy, there’s always someone crazy enough to say, ‘No, we can fix this, let’s do it’. The major suppliers and artists all recognise the value of it. And, for the people who work with us, it’s a lifestyle, a choice, a community. There are so many great things about the culture of HMV and what it stands for, that’s why it keeps coming back to life when a lot of other places went away for ever.”

How has HMV coped with the pandemic?
“Well, because HMV has been through all these rocky times – downloading and then streaming – our employees are better equipped to handle choppy waters, because we’ve never really had smooth sailing. Any time it feels good, something comes along and kicks you in the ass! So we’re able to say, ‘Yes, it’s a pandemic, yes, it’s horrible the stores are closed – we can sit and sulk about it, or we can try and do something about it’. The team has used that time really effectively to be better online, to come up with better ideas for when stores open and what the product mix looks like. You can spend your whole life talking about the negatives or you can look at the positives and say, ‘Let’s make this better’. And the team has really rallied around that.”

How has business held up during the crisis?
“It’s been OK. It’s not great. We’re getting by, but the reality is it’s tough. It’s been phenomenal for people like Amazon and really tough for people like us. We’ve got a loyal following and they’ve made the effort to support us online and to come back to stores now that we’re opening back up. But it’s going to take quite some time for that footfall and the confidence to come back. The online business has been really strong. As we open, we’ll see that business come back down, I don’t think it’s going to stay at these levels. And everyone will tell you it’s really hard to make money online, it’s a tough business. It’s been an experience. I’ll be happy when we’re through it, we’re not there yet but there’s hope on the horizon and it’ll be interesting to see what the landscape looks like then.”

Vinyl sales have been booming during the pandemic – how frustrating is the current lack of production capacity in that sector?
“We could certainly do more. But there’s this delicate balance; you don’t want the market to be flooded. So it’s how you balance it, so you don’t have too much or too little. Certainly, supply has been a challenge and it’s going to continue to be a challenge. Having so many stores means we can buy out print runs pretty quickly, so it’s important to really plan with our partners, and give them visibility of what we think we can sell over 6-18 months.”

Is it frustrating when a big album drops on streaming but doesn’t come out on vinyl for six months?
“Yeah. I would love to see vinyl launch first. It’s a very expensive format and I don’t think it really takes away from digital. But whether it’s a DVD or an album, when something launches first digitally, it makes it that much tougher for us to gain that market share. For now, we’re stuck with it. With the supply issues and the challenges, the idea of having vinyl even coming out at the same time [as streaming] is tricky.”

In the old days, independent stores used to worry about competing with HMV. With the vinyl boom, has that flipped around so it’s now hard for you to compete with the indies?
“You’ve got customers who really love going to their local indie, and those are people we’re not going to steal away. And HMV has got customers who are very loyal and very focused. It’s a really good ecosystem, it’s working really well. I love to see the indies thrive. We have some advantages and they have some advantages. Our advantage is obviously the size, but sometimes size can be a disadvantage. If you look at the history of the music business, all these big chains have failed and gone away – and there’s lots of indies that have thrived and survived. That’s why we encourage our store managers to treat their store like they own it, so they can have that relationship with customers. But it doesn’t bother me at all competing with the indies, they do an awesome job and I like having them there. Honestly, it wouldn’t be a great thing if there were no indies and only HMV. Conversely, I don’t think it’s a good thing for HMV to not be here and there only be indies. We rely on each other.”

You’ve said your product mix will focus on vinyl and pop culture products. Does that mean CDs are dead? 
“No! if you look at HMV, CDs still occupy a very large amount of space. We’ve just become better at merchandising and putting in more with less space, so we’ve been able to not deteriorate our CD or DVD catalogue and put in more T-shirts and pop culture products. CD is something we’re still behind. We still have a large customer base that’s buying into it and we keep supporting those things until the customer says otherwise. And, at this point, the customer is saying they still want to see that in our stores.”

Given how badly the High Street has been struggling under coronavirus, some people will be surprised to hear you’re opening more shops…
“Yeah. We’ve got 10 slated. I keep pushing the team that we’ve got to keep growing and looking at markets that maybe we’re not in right now. London always comes up, but there are lots of other markets that we should be in, so the team is going to move ahead on those 10 and hopefully in 2022 we can get some more open. It comes down to what the government does with rates, that will dictate where we go. I’m a pretty simple guy but when your rent can be zero and you still can’t make a store profitable because of the rates, that tells me there’s something wrong. Do we want a High Street that has 30-50% vacancies? We’ve seen through this pandemic what it’s like to have all non-essential closed: it’s pretty boring. I would love nothing more than to open more stores. I’d love to think they’d encourage that, but I just sell CDs, I know nothing!”

So what are the chances of HMV celebrating its 200th birthday in 2121?
“I feel really good about it. HMV is in better shape than it has been in a very long time, with no debt and our customers and staff are very passionate about it. So I would bet on it!”

The post HMV hits 100: we speak with owner Doug Putman as Ed Sheeran plays HMV Coventry appeared first on Audio Media International.

It’s the most hotly anticipated report from a Parliamentary committee since… well, ever, basically. Parliamentary committee reports are, after all, not usually very interesting.

But the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Committee’s report into the economics of music streaming has been energising the music industry ever since it was published at midnight on Wednesday. And it makes a number of recommendations that, if taken up by the government, could change the face of digital music like nothing since the invention of Spotify.

At this point, it should be noted that the UK government is not actually under any obligation to do any of the things it recommends. Parliamentary committees have no legislative powers. But they can prove influential – on industry as well as government – so it would be a surprise if the current streaming status quo survives completely unaltered.

The government now has a couple of months before it has to respond to the report, and the industry the same time to lobby them furiously. But artists, songwriters, labels, publishers and everyone else involved in the music of business will surely already be considering their own next steps. And to save you the trouble of reading the report’s 119 pages, Audio Media International analysed its content and had a stab at working out who is likely to come out of the process in a better position, and who won’t be quite so thrilled…

GOOD NEWS FOR… THE #BROKENRECORD & #FIXSTREAMING CAMPAIGNS

Whatever your position in this debate, you have to salute the impact of the twin campaigns for artists to receive more money from streaming. Tom Gray’s #BrokenRecord, plus #FixStreaming, brought to you by the Musicians’ Union and the Ivors Academy, have galvanised artists online and been supported by everyone from Paul McCartney to Chris Martin.

And their key demand – that the equitable remuneration (ER) right that applies to radio play and ensures that royalties are split 50/50 between performers and rights-holders should also be applied to streaming – is endorsed by the report.

Both major and indie labels contest how good a solution ER would actually be, but the committee was convinced and, if the government follows suit, it would have to go down as a stunning victory for the campaigners.

BAD NEWS FOR… THE MAJOR LABELS

Universal, Sony, Warner and the BPI would no doubt have been braced for some of the report’s recommendations, after a rough ride for the majors’ bosses – David Joseph, Jason Iley and Tony Harlow – during a session earlier this year.

But the report comprehensively rejects the notion that streaming is working for most people (although the evidence sessions did lack input from artists doing well on the format). You suspect the big three will be able to live with ER being applied to non-elective streams. But the prospect of a potential Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation into their alleged “market dominance” will be causing a lot of consternation in the boardrooms.

BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor pledged to study the report but warned that any policy proposals should not “imperil this country’s extraordinary global success in music”.

And DCMS Committee member Kevin Brennan MP, above, rejects any suggestion the labels were treated unfairly during the inquiry.

“They’re obviously not used to having to account in that way for the practices in the industry,” he says. “But they did have an opportunity to give oral evidence and also to submit supplementary evidence. They are very powerful corporate entities with lots of resources at their disposal to make their case, so I can’t see how they can possibly complain. It’s just that they don’t like the conclusions the committee came to.”

GOOD NEWS FOR… STREAMING SERVICES

When the inquiry was announced, many people assumed it would be Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music et al who were in the firing line. But in fact, aside from a call for research into the impact of algorithms on music consumption – and a warning shot across the bows of Spotify’s controversial Discovery Mode – the DSPs emerge relatively unscathed. Expect them to keep their heads firmly down for a while…

BAD NEWS FOR… YOUTUBE

If a lot of the DCMS inquiry ventured into unchartered territory, the reanimation of ‘the value gap’ debate seemed like a rehash of old arguments. The difference is, this time, someone was actually listening. The report recommends that YouTube’s “market dominance” is also referred to the CMA, while suggesting new UK legislation is needed around safe harbour. That will exasperate YouTube, which spent a fortune lobbying against the European Copyright Directive, but at least it was a crumb of comfort for the beleaguered labels, who have long pushed for a level playing field between YouTube and other services.

GOOD NEWS FOR… SONGWRITERS

Many were surprised at how little time the inquiry spent looking at songwriting, and you could be forgiven for thinking the report did the same. But, while it’s the stuff about artists and labels that really catches the eye, the report also recommends the government looks at “how to ensure the song is valued in parity with the recording”. If that actually happened, hitmakers – notably undervalued in what is now very much a songs business – everywhere would be getting a big bonus.

GOOD & BAD NEWS FOR… MUSIC PUBLISHERS

Publishers represent songwriters, so any increase in the song’s value should benefit them as well. However, the report also suggests that the CMA should look at the relationship between the major labels and the major publishers and how it “has influenced the relative value of song and recording rights”. The Music Publishers Association also attracted some criticism, with the report saying: “It is conspicuous that the MPA refused to give a definitive perspective on the debate, particularly given that the publishing arms of the three major music groups are counted amongst their members.” Expect this one to take a long time to untangle.

GOOD NEWS FOR… LEGACY ARTISTS

Unless you’re in Queen, there has been precious little good news for older artists around streaming, particularly for those still trying to recoup on their original deals. But the report suggests the creation of a right to renegotiate contracts if royalties are “disproportionately low compared to the success of the music”. It also recommends the creation of a right to recapture works, perhaps as soon as 20 years after the deal was done. If you were to put money on one thing that will definitely happen out of all this, it would probably be in this area: in a pre-emptive strike, Sony has already agreed to no longer recoup against pre-2000 deals (prompting some rare praise for a major from the committee), while the progress made by the likes of BMG in what Ivors Academy chair Crispin Hunt calls the “fairness arms race” means no one can really afford to be left behind.

GOOD AND BAD NEWS FOR… INDIE LABELS

The report says indies need more help to compete with the majors, and also suggests greater financial support for the BPI’s Music Export Growth Scheme that helps boost indie acts overseas. But independent labels also oppose the introduction of ER for streaming. That’s why AIM CEO Paul Pacifico welcomed much of the report, but also warned that ER “will not deliver the outcome they are hoping for”. Interesting times.

BAD NEWS FOR… USER-CENTRIC PAYMENTS

User-centric – whereby each subscriber’s £9.99 is divided up only amongst artists they have actually listened to – was the buzz phrase of the early sessions, not to mention the solution that seems to resonate most with the public. But it fell by the wayside as the inquiry progressed, and campaigners focused on ER. User-centric is still mentioned as an interesting possibility in the report, but it stops short of recommending a trial, even though SoundCloud has introduced it for DIY artists and Deezer has long been keen to launch it. Sadly, looks like they’ll have to keep waiting.

GOOD NEWS FOR… THE MUSIC BIZ?
The inquiry stage of this process has not been good for fragile music industry unity, with seemingly no one willing or able to persuade the various sectors to stop kicking lumps out of each other in public.

But now it’s all out in the open – and the threat of regulation and/or legislation looks much more real – it’s to be hoped that some good, old-fashioned backroom diplomacy returns to the biz. After all, DCMS Minister Caroline Dinenage has already indicated she’d prefer the music industry to come up with its own solution, and Kevin Brennan is also keen for the majors to be proactive.

“Our report might be at the cutting edge of this,” he says. “But the truth is, the industry itself is predicting huge future profits and a recovery to revenue levels consistent with its highest-ever performance in its history. All of that means that they’ll have to do something to improve artist remuneration. If it’s not this, then they should come up with their own proposals for doing it. Labels taking their own steps would be extremely welcome, and I think they’d be wise to do it.”

After all, if parliamentary committee reports can somehow become interesting, it’s surely not impossible for industry and creatives to come up with a streaming solution where everybody wins. Watch this space…

The post DCMS music streaming report: good news for #brokenrecord and #fixstreaming campaigns appeared first on Audio Media International.

Four hundred and eighty three days. Eleven thousand, five hundred and ninety two hours. Six hundred and ninety five thousand, five hundred and twenty minutes.

That’s how long it will have been between the start of Britain’s first lockdown on March 23, 2020 and July 19, 2021, the date when full-capacity, no-restrictions gigs will finally – subject to one last, definitive confirmation by the government – return to the UK circuit.

It’s been a long time coming – at times it’s felt like the only longer wait has been for England to make the final of a major football tournament – so no wonder it’s been greeted with joy across the music industry.

“It’s excellent news that music events can now go ahead in England from 19th July,” says BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor, “Bringing much needed clarity for venues and thousands of individuals who work in the live sector, as well as fans who have gone without live music for so long.”

“I’m delighted that the government has confirmed live music events can go ahead from July 19 without the need for social distancing – a welcome decision for millions of fans and for the hundreds of thousands of musicians and support crew whose jobs depend on live activity,” says UK Music CEO Jamie Njoku-Goodwin. “Our industry has worked incredibly hard to make venues and festival sites as safe as possible and reduce the transmission risk at live events. Huge credit is due to countless people across the sector for the brilliant work they have done towards this.”

But surely the trade body most pleased with the long-awaited move is the Music Venue Trust. Throughout the pandemic, CEO Mark Davyd and his team have campaigned relentlessly for its grassroots members, pointing out the hypocrisy of so many governmental decisions and saving dozens of venues with their demands for support and fund-raising.

Indeed, Davyd tells Audio Media International that, while modelling at the start of the crisis showed 83% of grassroots venues were at risk, the circuit will emerge from the pandemic having lost less than 1% of its venues. Compare that to the pubs sector or High Street retail and it looks little short of a miracle.

But while gigs can now return without restrictions and the government can bumble off to make a massive balls-up of something else, the work for the live sector is far from done. Davyd hails July 19 as “a massive moment” for the live business, but says his members – mindful of another surge in cases of the Delta variant – will make safety a priority.

Unfortunately, the government’s abdication of responsibility when it comes to measures such as the wearing of masks means most venue owners will have to ask for audience’s cooperation, rather than being able to make such measures mandatory.

“Everybody’s having to think very hard about what can they ask people to do,” says Davyd. “Realistically, if you can get into the pub, the restaurant, the hotel, the wedding, the church and the sports ground without doing anything, it will feel very weird if you’re suddenly asked for a health certificate or a mask at the venue.”

Davyd expects many venue staff will still wear masks and that Perspex screens at bars will remain a feature. But, while there will be varying degrees of concern amongst the audience, venues will appeal to gig-goers to take personal responsibility.

“Everybody agrees that a message needs to go out to the audience that, if you’ve got Covid symptoms, don’t come to the gig,” says Davyd. “You wouldn’t bring a knife to a venue, so don’t bring an airborne pathogen either.”

All venues are experienced in the fine art of risk management but the circuit plays host to a huge variety of concert hall types, and each one will be tailoring an individual plan for vital aspects such as ventilation.

But one thing can’t be planned in advance. In the Sutherland household, joy at Boris Johnson’s announcement was swiftly tempered by the cancellation of a theatre visit due to a positive Covid test amongst the production staff.

You suspect there could be a lot of this in the coming weeks and Mark Davyd confirms that, at a recent MVT meeting, 64% of venues present had lost a member of staff to self-isolation and a quarter had seen more than half a dozen staffers having to quarantine. While the rules around isolation seem likely to be changed at some point, the youthful, less-vaccinated profile of many musicians and live music workers means many shows could be affected in some way.

That’s one reason why the industry, including the BPI and UK Music, is united in urging the government to get its festival insurance scheme up and running – this column revealed two weeks ago that that programme is finally on its way, although nothing has been confirmed yet. But Davyd – who has partnered with the National Lottery on the Revive Live tour to support the grassroots circuit with gigs from the likes of Tom Jones and Rag‘N’Bone Man – points out that other financial support such as extending the suspension of business rates and loan repayments, as well as prolonging the VAT cut on tickets, is just as vital for small businesses.

“Quite often the solution for our sector is not massive government intervention,” sighs Davyd. “If you just get out of the way of the people who run these venues, they can achieve a huge amount.”

There are other concerns for the sector, including whether the public will actually turn up for shows at a time when case numbers are still rising (although ticket sales are much higher than they normally would be for this time of year). And, of course, there is always the possibility that live events will again be disproportionately affected by any future clampdown.

But ultimately, Mark Davyd is hoping that the live circuit is back for good.

“I’d like to think that, once we’ve got the venues open, the government’s commitment to that being irreversible holds true and that whatever we do in the future to tackle the risk in venues is proportionate to what we’re doing elsewhere in society,” he says. “There isn’t any evidence that 200 people in a pub is safe, providing nobody plays the bass guitar. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Hopefully, some kind of music industry recognition for the MVT’s work will be forthcoming before too much longer. But, in the meantime, for the first time in a very long time, it’s time to celebrate.

“This weird little sector that a lot of people don’t understand has fought its way through with virtually no closures,” grins Davyd. “Once the band starts playing, get me my crowdsurfing shoes, I’m ready!”

Camden music venue KOKO set to reopen in spring 2022

The post Live music venues to reopen in UK: BPI, Music Venue Trust and UK Music speak out appeared first on Audio Media International.

So here they come: primped, preened and desperate to “couple up” while a huge audience watches and ponders what the hell the world has come to. No, I’m not referring to the Love Island contestants, currently “cracking on” to each other somewhere much sunnier than South London. I’m talking about the music industry, which right now is indulging in the sort of acquisition/joint venture/strategic partnership frenzy that would probably see the Casa Amor crew referred to Ofcom were it to be broadcast on ITV2. Are you ready for Hot Deal Summer?

Maybe it’s the industry-wide excitement at the prospect of a return to normality post-pandemic. Maybe it’s the financial impact of 15 months in isolation on some sections of the business. Or maybe it’s because, for the first time since the mid-‘90s, other parts of the music industry are awash with cash, whether self-generated or from external investment vehicles.

Either way, if you’re not currently in discussions to sell or buy something – anything! – you’re in serious danger of being left behind.

So Atlantic UK forms a JV with Ireland’s Trust It Entertainment. Tencent invests in Gaana. Sony buys a majority stake in Alamo Records. Universal Music Group sells a 10% stake to Pershing Square Tontine Holdings. And that’s just in the last few days!

The music industry landscape is now being rearranged on a daily basis, often with eye-watering sums being exchanged. And that’s before we even consider the publishing and masters buyout gold rush that’s been going on across the business ever since Merck Mercuriadis’ Hipgnosis first spotted an opportunity. We now live in a world where David Guetta’s recordings catalogue sells (to Warner Music) for over $100 million and where Noel Gallagher can basically tout his song collection for sale for hundreds of millions several years before he’s in a position to actually offload them.

Of course, few people would begrudge veteran artists and songwriters a big payday, although I suspect the younger creatives also selling off their rights may live to regret it, one way or the other. But the sheer amount of cash sloshing around the business is distorting things for many.

That’s why PIAS – a storied independent music company that’s released countless classic artists over the years – recently announced a “strategic alliance” with Universal Music Group: to help it compete with the new breed of IPO and private equity-fuelled disruptors (although PIAS remains fully independent). Not so long ago, indies and majors rarely cooperated, now they’re very much better the devil you know, rather than dealing with the City and Wall Street sharks currently circling the industry like the Love Island lads when a new bombshell arrives.

The influx of outside cash is also creating ownership webs so complex they make the average LI love quadrangle look straightforward. Once its IPO goes through, Universal will be owned by Vivendi (10%), Tencent (20%), PSTH (10%) and whoever buys in during the stockmarket float (60%). Tencent also has a stake in Warner Music following the WMG IPO, and has a slice of Spotify (which has a similar stake in Tencent). Universal also still owns Spotify shares, while Warner owns a controlling stake in Deezer. In this world, it seems like pretty much anyone is 100% someone’s type on paper.

Does any of this actually matter? After all, the music industry has seen M&A frenzies come and go in the past, and it’s still here, so why not just make like all of those wannabe influencers in the villa – shrug and say sagely: “It is what it is, babes”.

Because to plenty of people in the industry it remains important that artists have as many options as possible when it comes to bringing their music into the world, that’s why. Yet, purely because they’re independent, indie companies are the most likely to be swallowed up by bigger fish. How many services companies have gone that way in recent years? Even Kobalt-backed AWAL, recently bought by Sony despite being built to disrupt the major label system the way Kobalt has the publishing world, ultimately couldn’t compete.

And the other big question – one that is all too rarely addressed when these deals are done – is how much of the money filters down to the people who make and write the music? Most of the companies involved in these deals have been built on the blood, sweat and tears of artists, yet rarely will those creatives benefit directly – or even indirectly, if they have the misfortune to have the wrong sort of deal.

True, to their credit, Sony has recently written off recoupment for older contracts and BMG has made huge strides in making itself a truly artist and songwriter-friendly company. But all too few others have followed suit and the deal frenzy will mean that many industry players, particularly the newcomers, won’t look beyond the bottom line, let alone do anything progressive that might potentially impact it.

As the industry and the world returns to normal, it’s important to not forget to reassess how this industry works. Artists and songwriters are the key workers of the business and they’re sick and tired of being mugged off with a round of applause rather than a fair share of the proceeds (especially with the ongoing live music and post-Brexit touring farragoes). The industry should be concerned that so many creatives think they can only secure their financial futures by selling their rights, rather than by holding onto them.

From the #FixStreaming and #BrokenRecord campaigns to the spate of artists telling it how it is on social media, there’s a clear direction of travel for the industry if it wants to do the right thing. Yet with consolidation narrowing the options and putting dollar signs in eyes, there’s a danger that commercial interests once again trump creative ones.

And, lest we forget, whether you’re on reality TV or in the music industry, the best unions are true partnerships that endure for ever based on mutual respect, not just brief liaisons based on a mutual love for attention and a desire to make a fast buck.

The post “The music industry landscape is now being rearranged on a daily basis” Mark Sutherland appeared first on Audio Media International.

“Heart-breaking”. “Infuriating”. “Devastated”. “Gutted”.

Those were some of the words being bandied about by UK festivals such as Kendal Calling, Truck and Beyond The Woods as they faced up to having to postpone their much-loved events for the second year running.

That was the most immediate consequence of the government’s decision to extend the lockdown beyond the so-called June 21 “Freedom Day”, without offering additional help or guidance to the beleaguered live sector. But that could just be the beginning.

Not for nothing did last week’s column write that “the UK government letting down the live music sector” was now one of life’s absolute certainties. Even so, the level of incompetence and unfairness it’s displayed over the last couple of weeks is surely unprecedented, even when measured against the Johnson administration’s staggeringly low standards.

After all, the government has said it will allow 15,000 people to attend the Wimbledon tennis finals; over 60,000 football fans to watch the Euro 2020 final at Wembley; and 140,000 petrolheads to head to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. Meanwhile, live music remains in limbo.

“The bottom line is, we’re being treated like second class citizens,” fumes John Giddings, promoter of the Isle Of Wight Festival, which has moved to September from its usual June slot, and managing director of the Solo booking agency. “They’re allowing the Grand Prix, the tennis, the football – but all those events are financed by TV income, the audience is peripheral. We can only do shows if we can sell tickets to pay for the costs, but we’re last in the queue. We have to beg to have test events, which is pathetic.”

Those test events – which included a Blossoms gig at Sefton Park in Liverpool and the BRIT Awards – seemed to go off without a hitch, with a mere 15 positive Covid cases reported across the entire programme. And yet the government has so far refused to publish its report on the Events Research Programme (ERP). Multiple sources tell me that the report reveals live music is safe, but the contents don’t fit with the government’s current narrative.

Meanwhile, events are left in the dark as to what restrictions they might be forced to operate under – cited as a key factor in this week’s spate of cancellations. No wonder trade bodies and live events companies are taking legal action to force the government to reveal the report’s findings.

“We understand that the findings of the Events Research Programme are positive to date. The question is, then, why isn’t the government publishing them?” says Paul Reed, chief executive of the Association Of Independent Festivals (AIF). “The entire point of the programme was to determine if events could take place safely in a Covid context with the right mitigations, and to inform decision making and relevant guidance. We need full transparency and the publication of the report. It is completely unacceptable for Government to hold this back for political reasons. We need to be able to safely reopen and can’t get stuck in a perpetual pilot phase for festivals.”

The latest pilot event – last weekend’s three-day Download Pilot festival, the first to allow camping on site – was, by all accounts, a huge success, albeit the results on testing are still pending. Those findings will come too late for many festivals and, while Latitude Festival boss Melvin Benn has said he is “very certain” that festival will go ahead, despite being scheduled for just four days after the new unlocking date of July 19, many independent festivals are unlikely to proceed in such an uncertain climate.

Furthermore, there is still no word on the long-awaited government-backed Covid insurance scheme, that would allow more events to gamble on taking place, although John Giddings says Isle Of Wight – backed by live giant Live Nation – will go ahead regardless.

“Over my dead body will it not occur, and I don’t intend dying in the near future, believe you me,” Giddings sighs. “We are prepared to take the risk – you should phone me in October to see if I’m bankrupt or not!”

Giddings says it costs £10 million to stage his festival and Paul Reed says events have already invested an average of £450,000 at this stage, despite no guarantees over whether they can actually happen.

“The absence of an insurance scheme is pushing the UK’s festival industry to a cliff edge,” warns Reed. “Every day counts. If the government has confidence in July 19 as a terminus date, they will back this now. Waiting until after step four will be far too late for the vast majority of festivals this summer.”

Reed says 50% of this summer’s scheduled festivals over 5,000 capacity have already been axed. Of the remaining events, 90% take place after July 19 but, without advice and support, more will fall by the wayside. No wonder John Giddings describes July 19 as “critical” for the industry.

“If they extend [the lockdown] I don’t know what will happen,” he says. “We’re getting very angry and we feel we’re being treated half-heartedly.”

Giddings, like many executives in the live sector, is happy to implement vaccine passports, testing programmes and other protocols if that’s what it takes to allow events to go ahead. And there are growing fears that a second barren summer could see many events disappear altogether. So when the full season does return in 2022, what will be left?

“I’m worried about next year because there’s a knock-on effect where there is going to be twice as many shows as normal, because everything’s moved,” says Giddings. “There’s going to be 10 to 12 stadium tours in June/July and more festivals than you’ve had hot dinners – although some of them will have bitten the dust, because they can’t take the risk anymore. Are people going to buy enough tickets to keep the industry alive when there’s twice as much to go and see? I don’t know the answer, I just know how busy next year is.”

Paul Reed, meanwhile, remains hopeful the sector can return to its former glory… eventually.

“Ultimately, we are a hugely creative and resilient sector,” he notes. “The audience demand is definitely there and we’ll bounce back in that respect in 2022. But I think, realistically, it will take three to five years to repair the damage on a systemic level.”

And that fightback can’t start until the Department For Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) remembers it’s supposed to represent the first three sectors in its name, and does the right thing.

Advertise on Audio Media International from £495/$700 per month and start your campaign in 24 hours…

The post Isle of Wight Festival boss on September festival: “Over my dead body will it not occur, and I don’t intend dying in the near future, believe me” appeared first on Audio Media International.

There are now three certainties in life: death, taxes and the UK government letting down the live music sector.

After 15 long months of lockdown and a constant cycle of postponements and rescheduling, the live sector was finally poised to return on June 21, the date the government had said all coronavirus restrictions would end. Just two weeks ago, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was insisting there was “nothing in the data” to change that but, with tragic inevitability, a surge in cases of the Delta variant first detected in India ensured that the so-called Freedom Day was postponed again, this time until July 19.

Now, for those in the live music business, that was bad enough. But, as if to prove they’ve learned nothing over the last tumultuous year-and-a-bit, the government also failed to come up with any extra support for a sector that was first to shut down and will be last to come back – while allowing the likes of Wimbledon and football’s European Championship to go ahead with large crowds. No wonder many in the industry are at the end of their tether.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” sighs Michael Kill (pictured left), CEO of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA). “The youngsters who are going to these venues are now getting frustrated and the public’s position is starting to change. They’re seeing different countries doing different things like America – a lot of our big artists are going there to perform because of the freedom to do so. And, after watching the football [at Wembley] last weekend, they’re questioning what the difference is between the environments that are being locked down and the environments that are in situ at the moment. Desperation is causing people to question a lot of things.”

Indeed, many will ponder the point of the government running an Events Research Programme that saw 58,000 people attend test events (including the BRIT Awards and a Blossoms gig in Liverpool) and resulted in just 15 positive cases, if it makes no difference to how the sector is treated.

“Nobody actually knows whether opening live music venues at full capacity will provoke a wave because that’s never happened,” points out Mark Davyd (pictured right), CEO of the Music Venue Trust (MVT), which has campaigned relentlessly for grassroots venues during the crisis. “Many things may have caused this spike [in cases], but none of them are live music. There have been three waves and we weren’t part of any of them.”

Nonetheless, the decision has now been made and, once again, the live sector has to try and live with it. UK Music CEO  described the lockdown extension as “a catastrophic blow” for the sector, while LIVE, the live sector trade body, warned that 5,000 events are now likely to be cancelled over the next month. The Association Of Independent Festivals said the delay would further hit the already-decimated 2021 festival season.

Four weeks might not sound that long after all the industry has been through, but after 15 months without any income, it could tip many live businesses over the edge, especially without further support. The government has now announced that eviction protections for commercial tenants will continue until March 2022 but the other five demands on the Music Venue Trust’s six-point plan to manage the impact of the extension remained unaddressed as this column went to press.

The Music Venue Trust’s suggestions include extending 100% rate relief until March next year; extending the Bounce Back Loans and CBIL interest/payment free period until September 30; exploring the Australian model of rent debt settlement; immediately releasing the £300m held for Culture Recovery Fund 3; and working with local authorities to release undistributed Restart Grant money to cultural premises.

Michael Kill is optimistic there will be progress on some of these fronts – and maybe even on the long-awaited Covid insurance scheme, the absence of which has blighted the independent festival scene – but warns that many people were so invested in the June 21 date that they are now on the brink.

“It’s a car crash for many businesses that had to prepare a lot earlier to get ready,” he says. “Now they’re financially committed and worried about what the future looks like, because they’ve spent those cash reserves preparing for opening on the 21^st – and now they’ve got to survive an additional four weeks.”

Prior to the lockdown extension announcement, theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber had threatened to open his venues anyway. Funnily enough, the former Conservative peer’s new Cinderella musical has now been offered test event status, but few others in the live sector are as lucky.

“If everything is now a test event, I’ve got 4,000 test events they can run, it’s not a problem,” quips Mark Davyd. “But we’ve ended up in a situation where 40,000 people are going to Wembley Stadium on public transport to see the Euros finals, get their beers from enclosed spaces and dance, but I can’t tell one of my members who runs a 60-capacity folk club that it’s OK to put some folk on.”

It’s anomalies like that that Michael Kill says is making some people contemplate “direct action”.

“Confidence in the government is really ebbing from our sector,” he warns. “They’re frustrated and angry.”

Of course, the government has provided substantial – if often belated – support to the sector during the pandemic. But it now risks wasting large amounts of that public money if it doesn’t support the industry through the final push – or if its own incompetence in dealing with the Delta variant (largely caused by its refusal to put India on the red list as soon as it was aware of the more transmissible mutation) makes that July 19 date slip further.

“Let’s be clear,” says Davyd. “The Prime Minister has described July 19 as a terminus date. I’m not going to start arguing and fighting with them about that – I’m going to hold them to it.”

And, with the correct support, both the NTIA and the Music Venue Trust are confident that – when the hallowed day arrives when we can finally return to the moshpit/standing cynically by the bar with our arms folded – we will find an industry ready to come back more vibrant than ever.

“There will be a three-to-five-year period to get back to where we were,” says Michael Kill. “The desire is there, we just need to start rebuilding our sector, and get confidence in investment and landlords so we can start regenerating. Live music all starts from the ground up. Without a doubt we can do it, but there’s been a huge impact for us.”

“If the government can get on top of what they’ve done here, we are in a position to bounce back really strongly,” says Davyd. “There will be a lot of debt and it will take two-to-three years to clear it, but we have pent-up demand coming out of our ears. People have sat watching their phones and computers for long enough – now they want to go and live something real.”

Over to you Boris – don’t let us down this time…

Advertise on Audio Media International from £495/$700 per month and start your campaign in 24 hours…

The post Music Venue Trust and Night Time Industries Association on the latest lockdown of live music in the UK appeared first on Audio Media International.

It’s no coincidence that vinyl has boomed since Record Store Day launched in 2008.

Vinyl sales have grown every year since then, with RSD providing a welcome annual spike, and are now at their highest level since the early ‘90s. Record Store Day itself, meanwhile, is now such a big deal that this year’s RSD ambassador is Noel Gallagher.

Indeed, the vinyl revival is so strong that not even a global pandemic has been able to slow it down. Record Store Day shops may have been closed for much of the past year, but a combination of resilience and innovation has seen independent retail thrive and vinyl sales surge. More than one million units were sold during Q1, a year-on-year increase of 16.1%.

Thanks to the pandemic, last year’s Record Store Day was held across three different dates in late summer and autumn rather than its traditional single day in April. And this year’s event will also mix up the format and date, with two days – June 12 and July 17 – potentially either side of the government’s final relaxation of coronavirus restrictions.

Of course, that June 21 ‘freedom day’ looks increasingly precarious, given the resurgence of cases, but RSD – and vinyl in general – also has other issues to deal with. In recent weeks, social media has been awash with industry figures complaining about vinyl capacity issues and pressing delays.

So, as we celebrate RSD 2021, could the vinyl revival grind to a halt? I sat down with Kim Bayley – chief executive of the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), which organises Record Store Day – to discuss the state of play with RSD and physical retail in general…

How are things looking for this year’s event?

“It’s looking great. We’ve got an amazing line-up of product considering all the delays that have happened at pressing plants and the traumas of last year. We have 250 shops taking part, which is high as ever – and the shops are excited to get back into it.”

Given the surge in online vinyl sales during the pandemic, do people still need physical record shops in the same way?

“They do. What you don’t get and can never get online is that feeling of browsing and talking to someone in a shop about what’s out this week or what you might like. What we saw when the shops opened up was customers going back into stores because they missed that side of things. I’m not sure anyone actually enjoys online shopping, they do it because they have to.”

With sales levels higher than they’ve been for decades, can the vinyl resurgence actually get any bigger?

“It is getting bigger every year. This year, we’re already 35% up on unit terms on last year, which was the biggest year so far [since the revival]. And that’s with pressing delays. The reality is, it would probably be more than that, if we actually had the volume of product that we could sell. The real fan-based sales are moving to vinyl rather than CD, the growth is coming from the under-25s who are discovering vinyl for the first time. If that kicks on with each generation, there’s no reason why it can’t continue.”

Vinyl could overtake CD in value terms this year – so do you need a Record Store Day for CDs?

“It’s one of those things that we look at and think, ‘Do we need to revive the format?’ But what we’re seeing is fans move to vinyl – we don’t want to force them to buy CD if they don’t want to. It’s by no means dead yet, it isn’t on its knees like vinyl was when Record Store Day started. At the moment, we are trying to give customers the choice of which format they want to buy.”

What’s causing the big vinyl delays?

“Just the sheer volume of product we want to get through the pressing plants. If vinyl’s growing at 30-35% year-on-year, that creates its own problems, because we were pretty much at capacity before. Coronavirus has also had some impact with staff shortages and some factories having to run on reduced capacity. I suspect we’re a year away from things settling down again. But we’ve got some new UK plants coming on stream and additional capacity worldwide, so it will all resolve.”

Are you surprised the music industry hasn’t come up with a long-term capacity solution?

“Well, part of it was everyone kept thinking this might plateau. For several years there was a feeling that this was just a fad and we’ve only just got to the point where people have realised vinyl is here to stay. By which point, there weren’t any pressing plants that you could de-mothball. [The industry is] not good at investing into the distribution or manufacturing side of the business anymore, it’s not what they do, so it’s probably up to other people to invest in those plants.”

Some new releases by major label artists are seeing record-breaking vinyl sales. Is there concern over smaller labels being squeezed out?

“There will always be certain artists who can’t get their stuff manufactured fast enough, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a difference between majors and indies. When I speak to the majors they’ve got just as many issues in getting their stuff through the plants. All labels – small or large – are pre-booking capacity at the plants for whatever they need.”

It must be frustrating for shops when the vinyl album comes out long after the other editions though?

“That’s the most frustrating thing, you lose momentum if the vinyl comes six months later. But it’s not impossible. The whole ethos behind Record Store Day is, quite often things are released on vinyl many years after the original version, albeit on a different colour vinyl or whatever. It just means we have to work harder marketing it to people and that’s what the indie shops have done really well over the last few years; making sure their customers know about releases that are coming later.”

Many new releases are also playing the limited edition/coloured vinyl game that is Record Store Day’s stock-in-trade. Does that reduce the special feel of RSD releases?

“It’s a slight danger, but the labels are responding to fan demand – and the demand is to have different coloured vinyls and special releases throughout the year. From the shops’ perspective, it’s great to have a steady stream of these exclusive releases. Record Store Day has never just been about the releases, it’s about celebrating your local record shop, so I hope we keep that.”

At the start of the pandemic, people were worried whether record shops would survive. How are things looking now?

“In our membership, we’ve seen one or two shops closed, but usually due to people retiring. We’ve actually seen more shops open than close. Because vinyl is growing and it’s an exciting market to be in, those people who want to open shops on the High Street are getting good deals on their rent and deciding to open up.”

How about bigger music retailers such as HMV and the supermarkets?

“It was probably harder for a lot of them. The biggest challenge for supermarkets has not been from the music sector; it’s been a lack of DVD content. There has been less footfall in the entertainment aisles because you weren’t getting the big new film releases that drive traffic. HMV seem to have come back once they were able to open and they did reasonably well online whilst they were closed. But footfall is slower than all retailers would like – generally there’s still nervousness around people shopping on the High Street, it’s not such a pleasant experience when you’ve got to wear a mask and there’s only two people allowed in the shop at one time.”

And generally, how do you feel about the future of retail?

“We feel fairly positive. We’ve seen how the shops have responded to this over the last year. They seem to be coping well. They’ve retained their customers, some have grown sales and built new businesses online, so many of our stores have set themselves up for a better future, rather than a difficult future, because they’ve now got several channels to reach their customers. Hopefully Record Store Day is a good reason to celebrate that.”

Advertise on Audio Media International from £495/$700 per month and start your campaign in 24 hours…

The post Record Store Day boss Kim Bayley on vinyl sales, delays and the pandemic: “We’ve actually seen more shops open than close” appeared first on Audio Media International.