Live Music Bill

Just circulating this email to anybody who might be interested…


’From: Hamish Birchall <hamishbirchall@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: 1 December 2011 16:50:17 GMT
To: hamishbirchall <hamishbirchall@yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Calling all musicians

Please circulate

Don’t let local authorities determine when, where and even what live music you can perform. Don’t let them scare the government into abandoning plans for more radical deregulation of entertainment licensing.

It is a myth that entertainment licensing is the only way to regulate safety and noise at entertainment events. There is ample legislation irrespective of licensing to address these risks.

Respond to the DCMS consultation - there are two days left:
http://www.culture.gov.uk/consultations/8408.aspx

The live music bill is making progress in Parliament, but it offers a relatively narrow exemption from the entertainment licensing regime: performances between 8am and 11pm to audiences of up to 200.

Why should live music be automatically subject to an 11pm curfew when DJs can often play much later? Should traditional folk singarounds, unamplified, automatically be subject to licensing between 11pm and 8am?

I and others have criticised the DCMS consultation for proposing to keep daft licence conditions for pubs and bars (p11 para 2.25), such as a two or three musician limit and restrictions on musical genres. That would be a disaster for live music in those venues. But it is only a proposal. You can reject it.

ENDS’

Traditional music is a force that cannot be contained and licensed by the mere modern-day government. Its as old as the hills. And also, unamplified sessions are not usually the cause of massive crowd riots…

All the power to the live music

“And also, unamplified sessions are not usually the cause of massive crowd riots…”

You’re doing it wrong. 🙂

Why is the UK Govt p*ssing around with this sort of legislation?
It’s one reason why they’re no longer a world power I guess.

“Why is the UK Govt p*ssing around with this sort of legislation?”

Well, in fairness, this is about relaxing existing legislation, to an extent. It only applies to the law in England and Wales.
Surely there too has been some significant changes in Australian state licensing laws since the days of the “six o’clock swill”, Hup? It’s what governments like to fart about doing - the UK one likes to think it is still a world power.

“the UK one likes to think it is still a world power. ”

what, it’s not?

Ask Angela Merkel.

“And also, unamplified sessions are not usually the cause of massive crowd riots…” (carrickfergus)

Riots or otherwise, unaccompanied singing seems to have given the black peoples of South Africa a terrific lift on their journey towards their proper rights.

Of course, (a) lots and lots of them know songs, and (b) they have the weather for coming on the streets in formidable numbers and singing them outside.

And don’t forget Estonia.
http://www.singingrevolution.com/cgi-local/content.cgi?pg=1

Well, these two songs served as signals for action in the Portuguese revolution of 1974.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89LBNSX_vig

play video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaLWqy4e7ls

play video

The UK (and Australia) are two of the outer suburbs of the USA’s empire -
so I guess by extension, the UK is world power

Arise ye sons of freedom…
fight for your right to sessioning and one or two other things as well…(?)