2020 has been a long year for everyone but just as things are starting to return to some form of normal for most industries, the doors of many much loved music venues still remain closed.
The live music and events industry not only hugely contributes to the cultural scene within the UK but is also an economic powerhouse that brings in £5.2 billion a year (stats courtesy of Music by Numbers 2019 report). It is an industry that brings thousands of people together like nothing before, to watch performances that in the words of Glastonbury Festival’s Emily Eavis: inspire,delight, move, educate and create memories to last a lifetime and she’s right. I know from my own experience just how much live events mean to people; I wouldn’t have met some of my closest friends if it wasn’t for live music. This country NEEDS the industry to keep it on the map.
#WeMakeEvents is a movement designed to support every single artist, crew member, theatre company, music venue and promoter so that they don’t struggle to such an extent that the events industry is never able to get back to what it was.
Last Wednesday (September 30th) the campaign had a day of action in which many venues up and down the country turned red in an effort to call on the government for financial support, as the industry has been left out of Rishi Sunak’s latest jobs scheme. The campaign was also a way to raise public and media awareness in support of the live events sector which employs over circa 1,000,000 highly skilled people in the UK, all of whom have had no work since March 2020 with little likelihood of restarting until Spring 2021.
This campaign and speaking up about the issues faced by the live music industry currently, is vital. The UK is nothing without the events and the thousands of people behind them – we must protect our venues and all of the artists and wonderful crew that make these productions possible in the first place.