02.02.2022: Senior Parliamentarians from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music will host the next stage of their inquiry into the barriers facing UK artists touring the EU by taking evidence from legendary promoter Harvey Goldsmith.
Harvey Goldsmith CBE has produced some of the world’s best known shows (including Live Aid) and has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry including The Rolling Stones, The Who, Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, Sheryl Crow and Shania Twain.
He will join a panel of industry experts that include Mark Pemberton OBE (Chief Executive Association of British Orchestras), Craig Stanley (Chair, LIVE Touring Group), as well Anita Debaere (Director, PEARLE* – Live Performance Europe) and Silke Lalvani (Head of Public Affairs, PEARLE* – Live Performance Europe).
The panel will address the added costs and red tape that the music industry faces when working and touring in the EU. They will also discuss the threat this poses to the music industry’s talent pipeline.
The MPs have already written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the problems facing artists and crews touring Europe. A range of artists have sounded the alarm including Elton John, who described the situation as a “looming catastrophe”.
The first evidence session on November 22, 2021, heard from Everything Everything’s Jeremy Pritchard, manager Paul Crockford, and Fiona McDonnell, Head of Artistic Planning at the Academy of Ancient Music. They raised the challenges that musicians and music workers are facing with visas, carnets and other bureaucratic barriers to working in EU member states.
The MPs intend to publish the full report later this year.
