Music and the Party Manifestos

Music and the Party Manifestos

Since publishing our manifesto for 2015, UK Music has engaged in the political process so that the next Parliament and Government takes into account the music industry and what the sector needs in order to sustain its £3.8 billion contribution to the UK economy. UK Music identified a strong copyright framework, access to finance and fiscal incentives, skills pipeline, international growth strategy and better regulation based on good evidence as the five headline areas which require specific focus. The manifesto sets out steps that should be taken by those elected in May to progress these five priorities.

In order to inform our work with the new Government and Parliament, UK Music has undertaken a full analysis of each political Party’s election manifestos. Whilst elections tend to be fought on issues such as health, education, the economy and law and order, the recently published Party political manifestos give reassurance that the important messages coming from the music industry are also getting through to opinion formers and decision makers.

For instance, the Conservative manifesto contains explicit support for IP enforcement and anti-piracy projects, including the statement “we will work to ensure that search engines do not link to the worst-offending sites.”

Both Labour and the Lib Dems have manifesto commitments to increase apprenticeships in the creative industries which would enable us to build on our work with the UK Music Skills Academy.

Both Labour and the Libs have elaborated on their manifestos with additional creative industry statements. Launched over the past week, Labour’s “Charter for Culture and the Creative Industries” and the Lib Dems “The Power of Creativity” strategy offer further detail on their vision for our interests.

Whilst the Greens policy on a reduced term of copyright, which is now subject to review, may have caused alarm, there is a welcome commitment by the Party to reducing VAT on live performances by 5%.

Considering that small businesses make up many music enterprises, UKIP’s pledge to reduce business rates will offer some respite for our companies. However, UKIP also promised to abolish the Department for Culture, Media and Sport which would weaken the voice of the music industry at the Cabinet table in any Nigel Farage run administration.

Finally, the nationalist parties, which may have influence in the next Parliament, also make statements of support. The SNP is seeking a fairer share of the BBC licence fee to be invested in the Scottish creative sector and Plaid Cymru encourage a right to access arts and culture, particularly for the young and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

So what does it all mean? In a week’s time the nation will decide our political future for the next five years. The polls indicate we could be heading for the most inconclusive election result in living memory. Should this prophecy be born true, then the industry must seize upon this as a great opportunity. There are olive branches to the music sector in all Party’s manifestos. A Government which relies on the support of a large number of parties in Parliament, must be convinced to have our members’ collective interests in mind. UK Music will be vociferous in holding the new Government, of whatever shape or colour, to account on the manifesto pledges we highlight here.

UK Music's manifesto for 2015 can be found here: http://www.ukmusic.org/policy/uk-music-manifesto/

(This article was first published in Record of the Day's weekly magazine on 30th April 2015, issue: 625)

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