This week, artists have come together in order to help save British music. The campaign named Let The Music Play has been created in light of COVID-19 as musicians fear the UK’s live music scene is at great risk. Launching on 2nd July by UK Music and members of the UK Live Music Group, it has received endless support from artists, venues and production companies over the past 24 hours.
The campaign evolved due to a lack of indication from the government regarding music gigs and festivals taking place any time soon which has caused a huge concern for musicians across the country. Despite other countries announcing gigs going ahead, such as Malta’s Escape 2 the Island which is set to take place at the end of August, the UK have been kept in the dark. The unknown is a cause for concern as many in the industry are afraid they may lose their jobs.
Moving forward, UK Music has asked the government for 3 key things:
‘1. A clear conditional timeline for reopening venues without social distancing
2. An immediate comprehensive business and employment support package and access to finance.
3. Full VAT exemption on ticket sales.’
Big names across the country have signed an open letter as an urgent call for support to protect the 200,000 jobs which are in danger of a potential loss. Artists such as Paul McCartney, Little Mix and Kasabian took to Twitter in order to spread the #letthemusicplay campaign to their millions of followers.
In a plea to the government, Kasabian tweeted ‘The UK’s music industry contributes over £5bn to the economy and live music is its heart and soul, we’re calling on the Government to help our industry and protect jobs and the live music scene #letthemusicplay.’
The UK’s music industry contributes over £5bn to the economy and live music is its heart and soul, we’re calling on the Government to help our industry and protect jobs and the live music scene #letthemusicplay: @neilbedford pic.twitter.com/uZGxP56cqS
— KasabianHQ (@KasabianHQ) July 2, 2020
Other big names in the industry also took to the platform, such as former One Direction member, Niall Horan, who created a short Twitter thread to educate his fans on the situation.
Live gigs and festivals can’t happen without incredible hardworking teams behind the scenes, but without gigs all of those people are out of jobs and the live music industry is at risk. Today, we call on the UK government to offer their support. #LetTheMusicPlay pic.twitter.com/4v2gdMSlBj
— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) July 2, 2020
Although, it isn’t only artists who have taken to social media to spread the word as the campaign has encouraged everyone to share an image or video of the final concert they attended with #letthemusicplay on Twitter. As the campaign continues to grow, music fans across the country are patiently waiting in hope of some support from the government.
