Licensing Laws Kill Live Music

U.K. licensing laws that were meant to save the live music industry £2 billion over 10 years may be scrapped because they’re being killed off at the grassroots level.

The 2003 Licensing Act that became effective in 2005 has cost pubs and smaller venues so much time and money that fewer of them bother to stage live music, according to a government select committee.

A U.K. culture, media and sport committee chaired by former Tory departmental shadow secretary John Whittingdale is urging the government to exempt small venues from the need to obtain a license for the performance of live music.

It’s published a report saying the act may be “hampering” live music performances especially by young musicians, who often get their first break playing small venues.

The committee wants the government to scrap licenses for venues with capacities up to 200 and reintroduce the old “two-in-a-bar exemption,” under which venues of any size can put on a performance of non-amplified music by one or two musicians.

The exemption was axed in 2005, after being in force for 44 years.

“Our report calls on the government to relax restrictions in this area, which in some cases are unnecessarily draconian, and in others simply absurd,” Whittingdale explained.

The report also criticised some police forces for imposing new conditions on live music “in the interests of public order and the prevention of terrorism.”

The MPs called for Metropolitan police form 696, which requires performers to give the name and date of birth of all performers as well as specifying the “musical style” of the act, to be scrapped.

Many event organisers and artists were opposed to the form and questioned how the information would be used.

Chief Inspector Adrian Studd, who heads up the Met’s clubs and vice unit, immediately defended the form’s use.

“We started to identify that some of the crime and disorder associated with licensed premises was attracted by certain events or promotions,” he explained.

“A premises that was generally very well run, out of the blue could have some serious disorder. It could be because of the particular artist that they had.
“What we want to do is capture all events where there may be problems. Statistics don’t always tell the whole story,” he said.

In August, Wiltshire magistrates banned Pete Doherty from a local festival because the police believed he and his band Babyshambles were a threat to public order.

It may have been something of a landmark case, as it’s believed to be the first time the 2003 act was used to stop a particular artist from performing.
Live Music Forum chairman Feargal Sharkey gave another example of the form’s impact, saying a charity concert in London for a teenage cancer victim was canceled because organisers had not filled in a police form.

The report’s recommendations will likely be music to the ears of pub landlords and trade organisations that protested the 2003 act from the outset.
In 2005, Sharkey urged pubs and venues to apply for the new licenses because “live music is, for the majority of us, part of our everyday lives,” but he’s now acknowledging his appeal fell on deaf ears and that the law isn’t working.

“The U.K. has a world-class music industry, but it is underpinned by extremely delicate foundations via an intricate network of back rooms in pubs, bars, clubs, hotels and halls,” he said, welcoming Whittingdale’s committee’s report.

“It is vital that tomorrow’s superstars and young musicians have somewhere to ply their craft, somewhere to play and that communities have a place to gather together.”

When it came in to force, a report by brewer Glenfiddich warned that the new law would likely see the average daily number of U.K. gigs cut by half.
When many small clubs and pubs were slow to apply for the new licenses, which The Guardian partly attributed to inertia, The Times reckoned it was because it would cost the U.K.’s venues about £400 million.

It said each application would cost an average of “between £1,000 and £2,000,” pointing out the wide range of the estimate was because the local council authorities taking over the licensing process from local magistrates were charging varying rates for the new permits.

The British Hospitality Association, which represents hotels, restaurants and caterers, estimated the cost in license and professional fees to be about £1,000. The British Beer & Pub Association quoted a figure closerto £2,000.

The basic “tick box” application form, which included a section on the extended licensing hours, ran 27 pages and many venue owners and managers hired lawyers to fill it in for them.

The 2005 Glenfiddich report said seven out of 10 small venue owners and managers weren’t sure what the 2003 act entailed, and suggested “at least 56,700” venues would give up live music.

Other licensees were confused because they discovered they needed to renew their entertainment licenses, even if they didn’t want to take advantage of the new extended opening hours.

Combining the two applications on one form was one of the ways the government believed the industry was going to save £2 billion.