The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #57243 Message #899689
Posted By: The Shambles
27-Feb-03 - 11:33 AM
Thread Name: EFDSS on the Licensing Bill - PELs.
Subject: RE: EFDSS on the Licensing Bill - PELs.
Ministers yesterday invited key players from the music industry to share their views on how the Licensing Bill should operate. But despite the meeting being billed by the Government as a "summit" to specifically allay fears about the Bill, it emerged that the discussion was in fact part of the Music Industry Forum - a routine annual event.
The meeting was hosted by Culture Minister Kim Howells, and included writers, managers, record labels, music teachers and students. The British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, Youth Music, British Musical Rights, the Music Managers Forum, the Musicians' Union and the Royal Northern College of Music were among those represented.
Dr Howells said: "We want live music to flourish in this country. That's our end- game and the Bill has been drawn up to deliver it. We must make sure the new licensing system is delivered with common sense on the ground. The music world has a key role to play in making this happen.
"I believe the Bill strikes the right balance between freedoms and protections. I am confident we can go on from here to produce supporting guidance that realises our aim."
But a spokesman for the Musicians' Union said the content of the meeting was "just more of the same" and offered no new steps forward in the campaign against the Bill.
Hamish Burchill, a spokesman for the Musicians' Union South West, said: "This meeting was scheduled months ago and was certainly not the Licensing Bill summit that the Government billed it as."
Feedback from the meeting will now be made available to a working group made up of representatives from the music world and local authorities.
This will be included in a report for the Department of Culture Media and Sport in April.