UK music community makes historic declaration of climate and ecological
emergency.

Universal Music UK, AIM, Sony Music UK, Warner Music UK, Beggars Group, Radiohead, Festival Republic, Opera North, Warner Chappell Music UK, Beth Orton, SJM Concerts,Imelda May, Coda Agency, Crosstown Concerts, Domino, Bonobo, Abbey Road Studios, Nadine Shah, Warp, The BRIT School, Music Venue Trust and hundreds of other artists and businesses amongst initial signatories.

The UK music industry declares a Climate and Ecological Emergency. The declaration has been administered by the newly formed Music Declares Emergency group, an independent organisation created by music business professionals and artists. It represents a significant moment in the music community’s collective response to the climate emergency as Alison
Tickell , MD Of Julie’s Bicycle, a member of the MDE working group, explains:
“It has never been more important to understand the gravity of the climate crisis and to do more.

Music Declares Emergency was created to enable the UK music industry to declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency, to accelerate collaboration and ambition in order to meet critical targets and to call on government to use their policy and investment tools to help us to
reach those goals.’‘

The declaration states:
● We call on governments and media institutions to tell the truth about the climate and ecological emergency.
● We call on governments to act now to reverse biodiversity loss and reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2030.
● We recognise that the emergency has arisen from global injustices and will work towards systemic change to protect life on Earth.
● We acknowledge the environmental impact of music industry practices and commit to taking urgent action.

We will:
● Jointly support one another, sharing expertise as a collective industry and community.
● Speak up and out about the climate and ecological emergency.
● Work towards making our businesses ecologically sustainable and regenerative.

Signatures on the declaration represent the entire spectrum of the UK music community. It encompasses major labels, leading independents, prominent organisations within the live music community, major names in the classical, jazz and folk sectors, artists from all genres, artist managers and individual music professionals.

For a current list of all signatories please visit: www.musicdeclares.net .

Mike Smith, Managing Director of Warner Chappell Music UK, said
“It’s vital that we back this campaign. The threat from climate change is real and we all need to play our part in combating it. Music may not have the impact of some other industries, but we can still do more to reduce our own carbon footprint and use our platform to spread the message that action needs to be taken.”

Paul Pacifico, CEO of AIM, said
"There is no doubt that we are facing a global climate emergency, the effects of which are becoming ever clearer in our daily lives. It is crucial that we do everything we can to change our own behaviours and the behaviours of the world’s biggest corporations, and that we influence governments in order to secure a positive future for our planet.”

Fay Milton, drummer with Savages and member of the MDE working group said
“As I sat at a music festival in the desert, watching Extinction Rebellion’s action unfold so beautifully in London, I realised that something had to change. It seemed like the music world had lost touch with reality, partying like there’s no tomorrow, when ‘no tomorrow’ has become the forecast. On realising I wasn’t alone with these thoughts, Music Declares Emergency was born. The momentum of support has been huge and making a declaration is just the first step to creating real change. We face a climate and ecological emergency and the only proportionate response is to act boldly and act now.”

Tony Wadsworth, Chair, Julie's Bicycle and Senior Music Executive said
“The consequences of inaction on climate change are increasingly evident and alarming. The UK music industry can do two things: reduce our environmental impacts, and amplify our voices. Music Declares Emergency brings the entire community together to do just this.”

Organisations and individuals within the music industry can sign the declaration at
www.musicdeclares.net .

Media contact – pr@musicdeclares.net
Artist contact – artists@musicdeclares.net
Business contact – industry@musicdeclares.net

About Music Declares Emergency:
Music Declares Emergency is an independent group created by music business professionals and artists concerned at the lack of a cohesive, industry wide response to the climate emergency. It believes that the music community can drive forward public understanding and pressure government to take immediate action on climate and biodiversity loss. MDE aims to facilitate industry wide
conversations to harness the collective cultural and economic power of the music business to achieve a net zero greenhouse gas emissions future for the music industry.

A White Paper entitled Music is Not Noise has been created by associations of live music, including the UK's Music Venue Trust, across Europe in response to the World Health Organisation (WHO) October 2018 report “Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region”. A report that the collective associations believe went significantly beyond the requested scope (transportation noise sources, personal electronic devices, toys and wind turbines), and undertook also to study a concept they labelled “Leisure Noise”, in which they included “nightclubs… concerts or live music venues”. The White Paper, brought together by Live DMA, argues that this categorisation of music as noise is incorrect and that the report has potentially serious implications for the live music industry at all levels if it is not challenged. In the UK, the Music Venue Trust is distributing the White Paper to local authorities and is encouraging all stakeholders to do the same.

For more and to download the white paper CLICK HERE

For a good while we've been encouraging individual and company members to consider Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training as part of our drive to improve our sector's approach to mental health. Through our friends at Stagehand, the PSA Welfare and Benevolent Fund, we've been offering 50% funding for individual members to become Mental Health First Aiders. Today, MHFA England has produced its first impact report, highlighting its work and the impact that MHFA  training has had for those companies that embrace it.

Read the report here.

For further information about funding for individal members, contact the PSA.

What: AIF Festival Congress. Two day conference and Independent Festival Awards.

Where: Sheffield at the Abbeydale Picture House

When: 6th and 7th November 2019.

The theme of this year’s Festival Congress is ‘Utopia And Dystopia’.

The first confirmed speakers include Bing Jones of socio-political campaigning group Extinction Rebellion, and Rock ‘n’ Roll cultural historian Dr. Jen Otter Bickerdike.

Get your tickets along with more information at: https://aiforg.com/festivalcongress/ 

As business events for a big part of our members' activities, we're pleased to see that DCMS has launched the Government's Tourism Sector Deal on 28th June 2019, a deal that recognises the importance of maintaining a healthy Business Events sector.

Michael Hirst, Chair of the Business Visits and Events Partnership, of which PSA is a partner, commented: “The Events Industry Board and the Business Visits and Events Partnership welcome the announcement of a Tourism Sector Deal. We are delighted that business events future so prominently in the Deal with the supplementary publication of an International Business Events Action Plan. This is a very positive endorsement of the importance of the sector to showcase the UK key economic sectors, grow trade, exports and inward investment. It will also generate additional international business visitors and improve productivity through the utilisation of capacity across the UK. The opportunity to increase skills and attract talent is strongly featured in the Deal as we move to a more competitive landscape.. The UK has always been a world-class destination for business events. Now there’s a greater opportunity to attract and grow more international events throughout Britain”.

A link to the document itself can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tourism-sector-deal

A link to the International Business Events Action Plan can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-business-events-action-plan

On June 6^th The EC Justice and Home Affairs Council adopted a revised Visa Code. The changes include improvements to the visa procedures for legitimate travellers. The new regulation also aims to tackle illegal migration, by the introduction of readmission conditions. Legitimate travellers will now benefit from faster and clearer procedures, such as:  

• possibility to lodge applications up to 6 months, and no later than 15 days, before the trip;

• option to fill in the application form online and signed electronically (provided the applicant has been taken biometric information before);

• a harmonised approach to the issuing of multiple entry visas to regular travellers with a positive visa history for a period which increases gradually from 1 to 5 years.

Having been unchanged for many years, the EU decided and agreed for the costs of a visa to increase from 60 to 80 EUROS.

The new rules do not make any changes to the rule that the visit of third-country nationals is limited to a 90 day stay in the Member States in a period of 180 days. This remains an obstacle for touring artists and cultural professionals whether they require a visa or are visa-exempt third country nationals. Pearle*, the European association of employers in the arts, continues to advocate for a change of this limitation.

This week Music Venue Trust celebrates its first 5 years as the charity which works to protect, secure and improve the UK’s grassroots music venues. An event, titled 5/50/500 took place on 18 June, hosted by long-term MVT supporters Ticketmaster, and brought together companies and organisations which support MVT’s work, as well as venue representatives and artists. When the celebration was conceived it was to mark 5 years, 50 patrons and 500 venues which have joined the Music Venues Alliance, on whose behalf MVT works. In the last few months, particularly since the announcement of the first commitments to funding for venues from the Pipeline Investment Fund initiative and the launch of Arts Council England’s Supporting Grassroots Live Music grant funding scheme, membership of the Music Venues Alliance has grown to 547 venues and we have welcomed three new patrons: musician Bernard Butler and broadcasters Abbie McCarthy and Sarah Gosling.

Bernard Butler said: “I am honoured to be a Patron of the Music Venue Trust. Every musician’s primal instinct is to perform, and those baby steps require a nurturing environment in which to blossom. Music venues around the world from the local church hall to the stadium play an invaluable role in the creative process, allowing an artist’s confidence, technique and craft to flourish. But it does not stop there. Every artist will return to venues of size and location continually throughout their lives, renewing bonds with loyal fans as well as forging new creative avenues. Many of us return with great affection to stages we have trodden many times before, often encountering the same dedicated promoters and sound engineers, often combined into several passionate roles. We sigh at the loss of a venue not through nostalgia or sentimentality, but for the missed opportunities for ourselves as well as future generations. Protecting the network of grassroots venues is to secure livelihoods, access to the arts and to art itself.” .

Abbie McCarthy, from BBC Music Introducing, Kent said: “One of my favourite things to do is go to a gig – that amazing, excitable atmosphere, getting to hear the songs you’re obsessed with performed live, feeling a connection in that moment with your favourite artists, sometimes discovering exciting new acts and meeting fellow music fans. It’s such a buzz and that’s why since I went to my first gig aged 12, there’s not a week that goes by where I’m not at a live show.

Many of the best shows I’ve been to have been in tiny independent venues around the country. It’s the most special feeling when you’re watching an act with only a handful of other people & you can tell they’re going to go on to huge things, you know the magic memory of that intimate gig will stay with you forever. I started my Good Karma Club night to give new artists a platform to develop & learn their craft and we’ve had some incredible performances over the last few years. Without one of my favourite local venues, the Tunbridge Wells Forum, the likes of Slaves, Everything Everything & Frank Turner would not have grown to be some of the best live performers on the planet. Socially, culturally, creatively, venues are crucial, we must protect them at all costs!”

Sarah Gosling, of BBC Music Introducing, Devon & Cornwall said: “Grassroots venues are where I've solidified friendships, developed my passion for discovering soul-shakingly great new music, and had some of the most memorable and defining experiences of my life. The first piece of music journalism I ever wrote focused on the importance of small town venues supporting new music, and it's been the central core of every piece of broadcasting I've done since then.   Without them I wouldn't have the incredible job I do today, the unsigned musicians I work with would be left without audiences to hone their craft with, communities would lose their beating, jumping, dancing heart, and the world would lose its technicolour. Yet despite this the most pivotal venues of my youth - and the early stages for all my favourite mid-size bands - are now closed. Only a handful remain in the South West, and they can't keep up with the demands for stage time made of them from musicians across the entire artistic spectrum. Like plants without room to grow, they become stunted, left with nowhere to develop and unfurl the leaves they didn't even know they had. We need a broad spread of music venues catering to all tastes, just as is commonplace with theatres and galleries. The music industry can't be expected to fend for itself any longer, and creative lives can't survive without these venues. That's why I'm incredibly proud to be a small cog working to protect them as part of the Music Venue Trust.”

The centre will focus on the role of arts and culture in areas such as conflict resolution, education, health and wellbeing, and community regeneration, bringing together researchers with expertise in these areas with artists, arts and cultural organisations, audiences, participants and local communities.

Read the full article here:

https://ccskills.org.uk/whats-new/news/leeds-to-be-home-of-uks-first-centre-for-cultural-value

Registration is now open for the Event Safety Alliance’s annual Event Safety Summit, taking place Wednesday, November 20 – Friday, November 22, 2019 at Rock Lititz in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Leading entertainment industry insurance solutions provider Take1 Insurance will once again serve as the Presenting Sponsor of the event.

“Looking Deeper”

All reasonable event professionals want their shows to be safe.  But the meaning of “safe” varies with one’s role, level of experience, and insight about the event’s ultimate goals. The 2019 Event Safety Summit looks deeper at the unique challenges faced by event technicians, managers, and organisers and explores how their individual safety responsibilities influence the overall event environment. Featuring nearly 30 presentations, workshops, and networking opportunities this year’s Summit makes it easier than ever for attendees to curate a program that fits their individual interests and needs.

A sampling of current topics include*:

• Just DO it! How to Improve Safety Compliance
• Holding Ourselves Accountable - A Discussion on Policy, Influence, & Doing the Right Thing
• Electrocution, Causes, & Prevention
• Sexual Violence Recognition and Prevention
• Is There a Safe Way to Construct an LED Screen? YES!
• Building the Foundation for Situational Awareness.
• Decisions & Consequences: When the Right Thing Goes Wrong
• Scaffolding Design, Installation, and Management in the Performance Industry
• Control Room Design & Operations
• Inspection Procedures
• Event Security for Nervous Times
• CPR/AED/First Aid Training
• Best Practices in Corporate Safety
• SWOT Analysis for Live Events
• Professional Self Defence for Dummies
• Rigging Hardware Inspection and Safe Use
• Are you Insurable? Making Magic Happen While Remaining Covered
• Interaction of Pyrotechnics and SFX on Rigging Systems
• The Fundamentals of Performer Flying Safety
• On Trial: Your Career & Your Reputation

*Subject to change

Additional sessions will be announced over the coming weeks. Check the ESA website often for updates.

Details and registration information can be found at http://eventsafetysummit.com.

New scientific evidence from the International Agency for Research on Cancer has shown that exposure to mild steel welding fume can cause lung cancer and possibly kidney cancer in humans. The Workplace Health Expert Committee has endorsed the reclassification of mild steel welding fume as a human carcinogen. With immediate effect, there is a strengthening of HSE’s enforcement expectation for all welding fume, including mild steel welding; because general ventilation does not achieve the necessary control.

Further information advice is available on the HSE website HERE