Doherty Calls For Tax Breaks

Speaking at the Westminster Media Forum’s Next Steps for the Music Industry event in London, which has in recent weeks become a platform for some high-ranking execs, the former Sony Music UK chairman and chief exec the business could use the help of the existing tax credit systems covering film, drama and children’s TV.

“We’re already working with government to ensure that once we’ve created great music, more of it will be exported, helping our balance of payments, of which, on average, £230 million comes from recorded music,” he said. “But government can and should do more to ensure that more music is recorded here in the UK rather than overseas – allowing us to generate more copyright music to exploit internationally.”

He said the industry should have a tax credit for recording so that artists make their records here using UK studios, producers, equipment manufacturers and services.

“We should also have a tax credit for music video production. Big artists should be shooting their videos here rather than seeking out low cost countries to film them,” he explained.