Musicians' Union alarmed by live music crisis in Northern Ireland

30 September 2020 - Press release

The Musicians' Union has expressed its deep concern about the decision by the Northern Ireland Executive to introduce a range of restrictions, which will effectively ban live music in the region.

 

The Union has written on behalf of our members to the Executive, in the strongest possible terms, to underline the damage this decision will cause to the cultural life in Northern Ireland. 

Caroline Sewell, MU Regional Organiser for N Ireland said:
"The MU is deeply concerned about the effective ban on live music in Northern Ireland which was announced in the last few days. Musicians have suffered acutely throughout this crisis with their livelihoods completely disappearing in the vast majority of cases. We are keen to hear from the Executive and to gain an understanding of the evidence that has driven this decision."

Dave Webster, National Organiser for Live Performance, said:
"It's hard to understand why, with the correct social distancing measures in place, live music can't take place in Northern Ireland. We don't recognise the reasoning for such damaging restrictions and it seems unfair to penalise musicians further in these already difficult times."

Tom Kiehl, Acting CEO of UK Music, said:
"Live music is incredibly important to Northern Ireland. It sustains thousands of jobs and in a normal year would generate millions for the local economy. UK Music asks the Northern Ireland Executive to reconsider this ban and support actions that will aid music's eventual recovery." 

Music forms a hugely crucial part of the creative economy in Northern Ireland. As an industry it contributes almost £70m in annual gross value added (GVA) to the local economy, with a further £8m generated through music related tourism. One gig has the ability to create a positive ripple effect through the live music ecology which reaches venues, bar staff, lighting engineers, sound engineers and the wider night-time economy in restaurants, bars and hotels.

The MU's survey of its members in September reported that one third (37%) of musicians are considering abandoning the industry completely due to the acute financial hardship they continue to face as a result of the pandemic. Nearly half of the Union's members have been forced to seek work outside of the industry and 70% have been unable to undertake more than a quarter of their usual work.

Caroline Sewell continued:
"These statistics are truly devastating and so getting musicians back to work must be of the utmost priority if we are to save our industry which contributes so significantly economically, socially and culturally and which currently faces existential crisis.

"Six months ago, our members' diaries were wiped clear of work for the remainder of 2020 and beyond. As the work disappeared, so did the income of thousands of musicians and it quickly was clear that very little support would be coming as 33% of our members have not been eligible for government support in the form of the Job Retention Scheme or the Self Employment Income Support Scheme.

"The sheer quality and vibrancy of the world renowned Northern Irish music scene consistently punches well above its weight and is intrinsically linked to the cultural identity of Northern Ireland.  This is hugely important culturally and economically, but also socially as those positive effects reverberate through our communities and in our mental health and wellbeing. This is now all in jeopardy and we are calling on musicians locally to write to their local representatives to be sure their voice is heard."