Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

Brexit and musicians/performers and the touring industry: news, updates and experiences

editor

editor

hiraethified
Following on from this huge and constantly disrupted thread about Brexit and musicians, this is a new thread purely for discussing the impact of Brexit on musicians/performers and the touring industry.

Updates, tips and news are welcomed and frustrated musicians are free to vent about the negative impact Brexit had had on their livelihood (and on any positive impact, if they can find any).

Anyone posting up off topic material - or generally fucking about and disrupting the discussion - will be kicked off the thread because there are plenty of other Brexit threads to talk about unrelated matters.

*Last paragraph clarified
 
Last edited:
In the latest news, the UK government has agreed to temporarily suspend post-Brexit rules for some music truckers following a number of tour cancellations and delays.

Speaking to Billboard, a government spokesperson said: “This is a temporary exceptional measure which will ensure that our world-leading creative and cultural artists can continue to tour widely.”
However, the government still has no long-term plan in place beyond this temporary measure. It also comes with significant caveats – including the fact that it only applies to UK based trucking firms who also have EU registered fleets. Those who don’t will still suffer as a result of the rules.

Likewise, trucking firms with EU bases won’t benefit from the relaxations either. They are only permitted three stops in the UK before returning home to the EU once more.
Click to expand...

Small bands are still fucked though:

“We keep hearing strange things from bands, such as being told that they’re not allowed a passenger ticket on a splitter van and that they have to buy a freight ticket instead – which is three times the price,” Coldrick recently told NME. “Musicians have also been told that if they’re carrying portable instruments then they’d be OK without a carnet, and then we heard from the Musicians’ Union that one of their members had been fined £150 at the French border for not having a carnet.”
Click to expand...

www.nme.com

UK temporarily suspends post-Brexit rules for some music truckers

The UK government has agreed to temporarily suspend post-Brexit rules for some music truckers following a number of delays.
www.nme.com www.nme.com
 
Interestingly:

Coldrick argued that “a lot of what’s been going on has got nothing to do with P&O”, and was down to unnecessary Brexit-related bureaucracy. “We’ve also heard from people filling out all of their paperwork correctly and sending their merch out to Germany for a tour to go on sale, but then it randomly getting stopped at Rotterdam and not getting to its destination until the tour dates have ended,” she said. “They can’t sell it, so that’s a huge loss of money.”
Click to expand...

And here's another way bands and labels are being adversely affected:

Touring aside, UK independent artists and labels are also experiencing the devastatingly “outrageous” impact and “spiralling costs” of sending music products and merchandise to Europe in the wake of Brexit – leading to more huge losses of income.
Click to expand...

www.nme.com

UK temporarily suspends post-Brexit rules for some music truckers

The UK government has agreed to temporarily suspend post-Brexit rules for some music truckers following a number of delays.
www.nme.com www.nme.com
 
editor said:
Following on from this huge and constantly disrupted thread about Brexit and musicians, this is a new thread purely for discussing the impact of Brexit on musicians/performers and the touring industry.

Updates, tips and news are welcomed and frustrated musicians are free to vent about the negative impact Brexit had had on their livelihood (and on any positive impact, if they can find any).

Anyone posting up off topic material will be kicked off the thread because there are plenty of other Brexit threads for then to talk about unrelated matters.
Click to expand...
Can you lock the old one ?
 
TopCat said:
www.ismtrust.org

ISM Trust

The ISM Trust, the Independent Society of Musicians’ (ISM) sister charity, was created in 2014 to advance education, the arts and to promote health.
www.ismtrust.org www.ismtrust.org
Click to expand...
Please make an effort to explain what the link is about, especially when you're posting up outdated stuff from last year.
 
editor said:
Anyone posting up off topic material - or generally fucking about and disrupting the discussion - you will be kicked off the thread because there are plenty of other Brexit threads to talk about unrelated matters.
Click to expand...
I've added a bit more clarity to the OP.
 
TopCat said:
www.ismtrust.org

ISM Trust

The ISM Trust, the Independent Society of Musicians’ (ISM) sister charity, was created in 2014 to advance education, the arts and to promote health.
www.ismtrust.org www.ismtrust.org
Click to expand...
This is an authoritative guide to touring abroad and navigating carnets for equipment with some useful information and links. A how to. It’s from 2021 but is not outdated. A handy resource for struggling bands.
 
TopCat said:
This is an authoritative guide to touring abroad and navigating carnets for equipment with some useful information and links. A how to. It’s from 2021 but is not outdated. A handy resource for struggling bands.
Click to expand...
This bit is possibly v interesting at my level:
Government guidance states that one option for moving musical instruments or equipment which are ‘accompanied’ (carried in an individual’s personal baggage or in a vehicle and transported by that individual throughout the journey) is to use temporary admission to pay no duty on them by going through the green ‘nothing to declare’ channel. This applies to both personal and business use.
Click to expand...
Very much depends on how it actually works tho. I think it is what the little bands I know of who are touring at the momentdo... IF it works like that it is basically the same as it was before.
 
Last edited:
rutabowa said:
This bit is possibly v interesting at my level:

Very much depends on how it actually works tho. I think it is what the little bands I know of who are touring at the momentdo... IF it works like that it is basically the same as it was before.
Click to expand...
It's out of date though as this post shows.
“Musicians have also been told that if they’re carrying portable instruments then they’d be OK without a carnet, and then we heard from the Musicians’ Union that one of their members had been fined £150 at the French border for not having a carnet.”
Click to expand...
 
That is covered in detail in the video in the next post above, that beesonthewhatnow posted originally. That guys advice is that yes the portable exemption is valid still. That single reported case of a fine was an example of a customs official getting it wrong, which it is always possible that customs and police are going to be be dicks for one reason or another. But that does not mean that the portable exemption advice is not correct.

It is something that the more people know about in detail, the less likely customs officials will be able to get away with making "mistakes", so it is important that information is out there.
 
Last edited:
I am talking to our old tour person this afternoon about this anyway so will report back, he is very experienced with the actual practicalities of small band eu touring... his brief summary based on reality right now on taking personal instruments was "by plane no problem, in a van more complicated but doable".
 
rutabowa said:
That is covered in detail in the video in the next post above, that beesonthewhatnow posted originally. That guys advice is that yes the portable exemption is valid still. That single reported case of a fine was an example of a customs official getting it wrong, which it is always possible that customs and police are going to be be dicks for one reason or another. But that does not mean that the portable exemption advice is not correct.

It is something that the more people know about in detail, the less likely customs officials will be able to get away with making "mistakes", so it is important that information is out there.
Click to expand...
Even if all your paperwork is in order, there's still a chance customs officials may massively delay you by insisting on checking the contents of your van with the carnet - which means you have to unpack the entire van and wait for them to go through every item on the list.

This happened to my band crossing the Germany/Austria border before we joined the EU and we nearly missed the gig entirely.
 
Seeing as it's a new thread, it's worth reposting this. A charity has been launched aiming to help those artists whose touring plans are being affected by "the excessive red tape of the Brexit deal."

Crazy that a charity is now needed for working, touring musicians though.

"The service will help them better understand the complex requirements from working/traveling abroad, and mitigate against the financial risks now associated with touring, especially in Europe. Calls can cover the likes of visas, work permits, carnets, customs regulations, rules relating to movement and more.”
Click to expand...

“In addition, musicians now need extra support to arrange international tours because post-Brexit there is much complexity which can lead to career-ending consequences if the admin is not done right. Widening access to Viva La Visa’s service empowers musicians to make well-informed choices which should reduce risk, improve decision-making and increase confidence to tour internationally.
Click to expand...

www.nme.com

Help Musicians to provide funding for touring artists affected by Brexit

Help Musicians has announced details of a new fund which will help realise UK artists' domestic, international touring and live plans
www.nme.com www.nme.com

www.helpmusicians.org.uk

Homepage

Help Musicians is the leading UK charity for musicians of all genres, from starting out through to retirement
www.helpmusicians.org.uk www.helpmusicians.org.uk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Humberto
Best concert musical artist performance (on you tube or similar)
Replies
2
Views
89
stavros
S
hash tag
Cantona on tour
Replies
8
Views
281
DaveCinzano
DaveCinzano
magneze
Selling music gear on Reverb, any experiences? Good, bad or ugly
Replies
10
Views
351
pesh
pesh
littlebabyjesus
Bands/musicians who are criminally underrated but who can play really well
Replies
28
Views
1K
Ming
Ming
beesonthewhatnow
  • Locked
Brexit - impact on musicians, touring and the music/events industry
56 57 58 59 60
Replies
2K
Views
45K
editor
editor
Back
Top Bottom