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The text you shared discusses the challenges faced by working-class musicians and grassroots music venues in the UK, highlighting several key points:
– Britain’s culture budget has been cut by 6% since 2010, in contrast to increases in countries like Germany and France.
– Working-class musicians face higher barriers to entry and are four times less likely to work in creative industries than middle-class peers.
– The shift from record sales to streaming means lower income for artists, with Spotify paying very low royalties per stream. Only 0.4% of UK artists earn a living from streaming alone.
– Stephanie Phillips from the punk trio Big Joanie points out that revenue from live shows has not increased enough to compensate.
– Grants, such as those from the PRS Foundation, help artists with album campaigns by providing funding for promotion that builds fan bases and press coverage.
– Live shows and merchandise sales are now the main reliable income sources, but venues are under threat.
– Many grassroots venues, including Esquires in Bedford, face closure or sale, risking loss of cultural spaces.
– The Music Venue Trust’s Own Our Venues scheme helps protect venues by purchasing them via community investment and placing cultural leases on the properties.
– In 2023, 125 music venues closed, and over 40% of UK grassroots venues operated at a loss.
– Musician Frank Turner emphasizes the importance of live performance experience versus studio practice, saying “playing a show is worth a hundred hours of practising in your bedroom.”
If you want, I can help summarize further, extract quotes, or provide information about related support schemes for musicians and music venues. Let me know what you need!
Read the full article on Positive News here: Read More
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