EU TOURING DEAL CRITICIZED

According to the U.K. government, musicians no longer need visas or work permits for short-term tours in 19 E.U. countries, news that has met with a muted response from the #LetTheMusicMove campaign.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport today said that 19 E.U. member states, including Germany, France and Ireland, have agreed to let U.K. musicians tour there without what has been deemed an untenable level of bureaucracy and expense. This is a result of discussions DCMS has conducted with “every E.U. member state about the issues facing our creative and cultural industries when looking to tour in Europe."

The #LetTheMusicMove campaign says the announcement is “nothing more than we already knew," however.

Its statement continues: “It remains that the U.K. music industry is in a far less advantageous position now than it was pre-January. Despite the spin, this statement represents an admission of failure. Failure to fulfill the promises made by government about securing our industry's future during negotiations, failure to ‘fix’ the issue, as per the PM's statement of March this year, and failure to provide certainty around touring in almost a third of E.U. countries, eight months after the music industry was dealt a no-deal scenario.”

The campaign is calling for the government to publish full details on a country-by-country basis outlining the exact requirements for touring performers and crews across all 27 member states. DCMS says that it is “actively engaging” with the remaining countries and asking them to align their arrangements with U.K. rules, which allow touring performers and support staff to come to the U.K. for up to three months without a visa.