Deborah Annetts, Chief Executive of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, urged peers to back the Bill saying:
'So many musicians rely on performing live during their career but the current licensing regime is causing opportunities to dry up. In these testing economic times, removing these unfair restrictions can only help musicians.
'Live music is a vital part of our culture and the House of Lords has a real opportunity to begin the process of reducing the bureaucracy which is crippling the small live music event industry and hampering fledgling careers.'