Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Supporting Musicians

Thursday 3 April 2025 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Minister acknowledges the importance of grassroots music venues like Sunderland's Bunker for education and performance opportunities.
  • Minister emphasizes the need to renegotiate with the EU to provide opportunities for UK artists to tour and build followings in Europe.
  • Liberal Democrats seek an outright ban on resale ticket prices above face value, but the government is currently consulting on the matter with a manifesto commitment to address the secondary ticketing market.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Lewis Atkinson Lab Sunderland Central
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

Key to Sunderland's music scene are financially precarious grassroots venues like the Bunker, Independent and Pop Recs. The voluntary levy on arena and stadium gigs is meant to provide financial support to such venues.

Question

Sunderland is a music city, and key to that are our great grassroots venues such as the Bunker, Independent and Pop Recs. But venues like those across the country operate on a financially precarious basis. Will the Minister update the House on how he will monitor the implementation of the voluntary levy on arena and stadium gigs, so that it can rapidly provide financial support to venues like those in my constituency?

Answer from The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)

The Bunker looks absolutely amazing. It is a not-for-profit organisation—apart from anything else—that gives young people and others an opportunity to learn how to play, perform and record. That is precisely the kind of venue we want to be able to support, which is why I am determined to get this voluntary levy over the line as soon as possible, so we can put millions of pounds into small venues.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not provide specific details on how he will monitor implementation of the voluntary levy or its timeline.

How: Determined To Get It Over The Line

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Q2 Pete Wishart SNP Perth and Kinross-shire
Brexit Culture, Media & Sport
Context

No UK artist has made it into the world top 10 album or singles charts since 2003. Touring opportunities across Europe are essential for building followings and remuneration of new and emerging artists.

Question

For the first time since 2003, no UK artist has made it into the world top 10 album or singles charts. That is partly down to effectively closing the EU to touring artists, where followings now cannot get built and remuneration is not made for artists. The Minister promised to fix this. When will we get our artists back into Europe?

Answer from The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)

To make a serious point, it is absolutely essential for new and emerging artists in particular that they have the opportunity to tour across the whole of Europe. I am determined to get this over the line. It is one of the things that we need to renegotiate with the European Union. We have a key meeting coming up in the next few weeks, and I hope we will be able to make some progress.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not provide a specific timeline or commitment on when UK artists can resume touring opportunities in Europe.

How: Determined To Get It Over The Line, Key Meeting Coming Up

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Q3 Max Wilkinson Lib Dem Cheltenham
Culture, Media & Sport
Context

Music fans were outraged last summer by high resale prices for Oasis tickets. A ban on resales above face value is being considered to ensure fair access.

Question

Music fans were left outraged last summer by rip-off prices for Oasis tickets. Many paid hundreds of pounds over resale value to access the concerts they wanted to get to as dedicated fans. Liberal Democrats are calling for an outright ban on resales above face value. At the moment, it seems the Government are “Half the World Away” from a solution. When the Ministers answer, “Whatever” they say, please promise me that the answer to whether we will have a ban above resale value is not “Definitely Maybe”?

Answer from The Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism (Chris Bryant)

As the hon. Member knows perfectly well, a consultation is ongoing and will close on 4 April. It was a manifesto commitment of ours to ensure that the secondary ticketing market works for everybody.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The Minister did not commit to an outright ban but referenced an ongoing consultation without specifying when a decision would be made.

How: Ongoing Consultation

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