Researching live music: some thoughts on policy implications

Abstract

This article offers some initial impressions of the potential policy implications of conducting research in to live music. It examines issues of regulation, the black economy and sharp business practices, and developments in concert ticketing. It argues that the live music industry offers a potentially richer field of study than that of recorded music which has hitherto tended to dominate academic enquiry.

Keywords:

• live music
• regulation
• black economy
• ticketing
• music policy

Notes

1. See www.gla.ac.uk/departments/livemusicproject/.

2. I would like to thank Matt Brennan and Emma Webster for use of their interview materials.

3. See, for example, the great interest shown in ‘illegal’ downloading of recorded music and attempts to extend the period that sound recordings remain in copyright.

4. See, for example, Frith et al. (2010).

5. See Homan (2010).

6. In 2009 a partner and I established the label Left in The Dark Records to release Zoey Van Goey's debut album ‘The Cage Was Unlocked All Along’.

7. Flyposting is the (often illegal) process of putting up posters in public places, while flyering involves handing out flyers (often outside gigs) or distributing them in bars, etc. As Lee (2002, p. 102) notes: ‘The importance of flyposting in terms of the history of Popular Music in this country cannot be overestimated’.

8. As flyposting is generally an illegal activity, it has attracted the sorts of people who get involved in illegal activity and certainly the practice of some flyposters pulling down their rivals' posters is not uncommon. This has lead on previous occasions to fights and shootings, including at least one fatality in Manchester. See Sharratt (1994); Weales and Sharratt (1994).

9. For example on 7 April 2003 then Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting, Kim Howells, told the House of Commons that: ‘we will see many more venues for live music in this country’ and ‘a renaissance of that music’ following the new Act (House of Commons Debate 7 April 2003).

10. For guidance on the empirical effects of the Act see Kemp et al. (2009, p. 10‐5‐13).

11. See LACORS (2010).

12. For more on this see Welwyn Hatfield Live Music Forum (2009, 2010).

13. In summer 2010 PRS For Music announced that it was seeking to get this situation reviewed with a view to an increase. Live Nation UK CEO Paul Latham described the organisation as ‘bounty hunters’ (Ashton 2010a).

14. In September 2010 the Musicians Union announced that it was no longer opposed to ‘pay‐to‐play’ gigs (where promoters either do not pay performers or expect them to pay towards the cost of the gig) in principle and that each case should be judged on its own merits. See Ashton (2010b).

15. This figure appears to be a gross overestimate. Page (2010) estimates the total value of the UK music industries in 2009, including recording as well as live, as £3.9 billion.

16. See, for example, NME 6 May 2006, p. 7 and 13 May 2006, p. 10.

17. For an overview see David (2009).

18. The government brokered a memorandum of understanding between the recording companies' organisation the BPI and the ISPs which came into force in July 2008 (see www.bpi.co.uk/our-work/protecting-uk-music/article/joint-memorandum-of-understanding-on-an-approach-to-reduce-unlawful-file-sharing.aspx) and then introduced more stringent laws against illegal downloaders in the Digital Economy Act of 2010.

19. Customers who visit the Ticketmaster UK site are now directed to GetMeIn if the show they wish to see has been sold out. Ticketmaster also owns the US‐based TicketsNow secondary ticket agency.

20. It should be noted here that the links between primary and secondary markets have always been close. Pete Jenner told us of an eminent promoter from the 1960s who used his brother to tout tickets, something which Jenner claimed promoters have always been doing. In this sense the Ticketmaster/GetMeIn tie‐in merely legitimated a longstanding sharp practice.

21. It should also be noted that interviews carried out as part of our research showed that some promoters are disdainful of Live Nation and regard the company as interlopers who do not understand the live music world and are not in it for the long haul.