Brexit - impact on musicians, touring and the music/events industry

[beesonthewhatnow]

Purely anecdotal, but I’ve just been chatting to a tour manager mate over a coffee. He looks after a variety of bands, from small indie independents through to a major label metal group you’ve probably heard of.

The latter is the only one he can currently make the maths work for, based on the sort of European tours they’ve all done in the past.

Still, taking back control and blue passports, eh? Flag shaggers rejoice.

 

[nogojones]

oh and the 1727 act was not for one person. he wasn't even the first person named in it - it was 'An Act for naturalizing Louis Sechehaye, George Frideric [Frederick] Handel, Anthony Fursteneau and Michael Schlegel'. Search results

 

[editor]

Independent artists and labels say Brexit has had "outrageous" impact in shipping music and merch to and from Europe

Independent artists and labels have spoken of the "outrageous" impact and "spiralling costs" of sending music and merchandise to Europe in the wake of Brexit.

www.nme.com

The impact of fucking Brexit on the the merch side has been absolutely devastating for small bands.

She continued: “Since then, it’s been a sorry tale of merch held up in customs – most recently an order from my Bandcamp store took two months to get to Ireland. Similar tales for the rest of Europe as even low-value items are held up in the post. Things have been made slightly easier of late as Bandcamp has introduced charging VAT and tax at the point of sale for European customers.

“While this might take the guessing game out of how much an item will end up costing them, I also see that orders to Europe have plummeted in terms of numbers of sales. The extra import charges are just too high for most people.”

Clothier explained how Brexit had not only meant there were now duty costs, additional admin and paperwork for confirming the source of records and filling out the relevant trade tariff HS coding, making it “kind of untenable to ship records to Europe”. Not only that, but the new issues in shipping post-Brexit had meant that “so much stuff is being lost or returned”.

 

[pesh]

I've just done a short tour in Europe for an Academy venue sized band, they didn't bother with merch at all, they couldn't make it viable with the additional costs and paperwork.
tour ran at a loss.

 

[spitfire]

I've just done a small tour in Europe for an Academy venue sized band, they didn't bother with merch at all, they couldn't make it viable with the additional costs and paperwork.
tour ran at a loss.

Charlatans are saying similar.

 

[8ball]

Charlatans are saying similar.

Gonna be ages before he can afford a decent haircut.

 

[spitfire]

Some good news perhaps?

Artists touring to Spain will no longer need visas for short-term engagements in a dramatic change to the current onerous rules. The change follows months of dedicated work from LIVE and the Association for British Orchestras (ABO), alongside their Spanish counterparts Asociación Promotores Musicales and key industry players such as Live Nation Spain.

The development represents a significant boost for the sector which has, as a result of Brexit and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, seen European touring become more expensive, more complicated, and more difficult to execute.

Visas have been a significant issue for Spain which, despite representing the fifth largest live music market in the world, posed the most costly and complicated visa application process across the bloc for artists looking to travel for short-term work.

Until now, artists and their promoters have had to make applications for short-term visas entirely in Spanish, provide a host of itinerary details before having even been given the green light for the tour to go ahead – including accommodation and flight allocations – and give proof of applicant earnings of up to nearly £1,000 before ever having left the country.

LIVE & The ABO drive progress as Spain waives visas for UK touring artists - LIVE

Artists touring to Spain will no longer need visas for short-term engagements in a dramatic change to the current onerous rules. The change follows months of dedicated work from LIVE and the Association for British Orchestras (ABO), alongside their Spanish counterparts Asociación Promotores...

livemusic.biz

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Charlatans are saying similar.

Worth letting this one sink in. The Charlatans. A well established, long running band, with vast record sales, frequent radio airtime, large fan base, who will have access to a lot of music industry contacts and label support. And they still can’t make it work.

 

[editor]

Worth letting this one sink in. The Charlatans. A well established, long running band, with vast record sales, frequent radio airtime, large fan base, who will have access to a lot of music industry contacts and label support. And they still can’t make it work.

If only they'd listened to that bloke here who claimed to have all the answers

 

[Badgers]

 

[gosub]

MPs will hold a general debate on enabling visa- and permit-free working for musicians in the EU on Thursday 18 November in Westminster Hall. The debate will be led by Harriet Harman MP, and will last for up to 90 minutes.

Watch the debate (from 3pm, Thurs 18 Nov): Parliamentlive.tv

Read a transcript of the debate (this is published a few hours after the end of the debate): House of Commons - Hansard - UK Parliament
bates allow MPs to debate important issues, however they do not end in a vote nor can they directly change the law.

 

[killer b]

Thought some of you might find this article about the recent custom change's impacts on another aspect of the music industry, mail order... it's pretty bleak.

The Quietus | Opinion | Black Sky Thinking | A Fucking Nightmare: DIY Artists On Living With Post-Brexit EU Rules

Daniel Dylan Wray talks to numerous DIY label bosses, record store owners and artists about a specific, career-wrecking aspect of Brexit

thequietus.com

 

[ska invita]

Thought some of you might find this article about the recent custom change's impacts on another aspect of the music industry, mail order... it's pretty bleak.

The Quietus | Opinion | Black Sky Thinking | A Fucking Nightmare: DIY Artists On Living With Post-Brexit EU Rules

Daniel Dylan Wray talks to numerous DIY label bosses, record store owners and artists about a specific, career-wrecking aspect of Brexit

thequietus.com

Yeah and it's not just records, anything mail order. The tax that gets applied on the package by the receiver is often extortionate... Can be as much as the item value... Way beyond the actual vat element.

 

[editor]

Thought some of you might find this article about the recent custom change's impacts on another aspect of the music industry, mail order... it's pretty bleak.

The Quietus | Opinion | Black Sky Thinking | A Fucking Nightmare: DIY Artists On Living With Post-Brexit EU Rules

Daniel Dylan Wray talks to numerous DIY label bosses, record store owners and artists about a specific, career-wrecking aspect of Brexit

thequietus.com

What a total shitshow.

 

[Sasaferrato]

I assume that this has been mentioned already?

Spain scraps visa requirement for UK touring musicians

Music industry welcomes move by Spanish government as ‘hugely welcome’ and a ‘big victory’

www.theguardian.com

 

[killer b]

Yeah and it's not just records, anything mail order. The tax that gets applied on the package by the receiver is often extortionate... Can be as much as the item value... Way beyond the actual vat element.

also worth noting that it has affected importing/exporting outside the EU too - it used to be expensive but not too bad to order stuff from shops in the US, but it simply isn't now - Alex from Gnod mentions in the article having to pay 30 quid for a single cassette - before brexit that would have been maybe 15 quid.

 

[ska invita]

also worth noting that it has affected importing/exporting outside the EU too - it used to be expensive but not too bad to order stuff from shops in the US, but it simply isn't now - Alex from Gnod mentions in the article having to pay 30 quid for a single cassette - before brexit that would have been maybe 15 quid.

it is weird that
also postage from UK to US in now more expensive than to Oz, its the most expensive zone to post to in the world! Supposedly this is due to a crisis at the US end in regards postal workers <i dont really know more than that
that hike in taxes you mention might be related to this also

 

[gosub]

Yeah and it's not just records, anything mail order. The tax that gets applied on the package by the receiver is often extortionate... Can be as much as the item value... Way beyond the actual vat element.

Hey Granddad, rather than putting that in gramaphone terms.....why not say eccommerce.

 

[pesh]

Hey Granddad, rather than putting that in gramaphone terms.....why not say eccommerce.

do you mean E-commerce? and gramophone?

 

[gosub]

do you mean E-commerce? and gramophone?

probably.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Do you mean Grandmaphone?

US postage went south before Brexit but seems to have become even worse since. Are they related? Or did the postage situation in the US get worse? I don't think the dollar has gained any value against the pound recently.

As for Spain . . . No visas in the short term. How much does that really change? The bulk of the problems from were not the visa (even though that is substantial)

 

[gosub]

Do you mean Grandmaphone?

US postage went south before Brexit but seems to have become even worse since. Are they related? Or did the postage situation in the US get worse? I don't think the dollar has gained any value against the pound recently.

As for Spain . . . No visas in the short term. How much does that really change? The bulk of the problems from were not the visa (even though that is substantial)

Bezos v Trump war.

US postal service was/is subsidized though there really re shennanigans over how they've looked at pension arrangements. Does mean however given the way Amazon developed US government subsidized the undermining of the high street.

UK side, well there some EU regs and Vince Cable (remember him?) but everyone wants to be in the parcel carrying business. Letters are suffering.

 

[ska invita]

friend of mine is in a really good new metal band...they're signed with a first album coming out this year
they've been offered support of a big US hardcore punk band which is touring Europe this summer
theyve had to turn down all the europe dates apart from the UK ones because of all the extra costs and hassle involved - would've been 6 countries tour across about 6 weeks
i think this is a great example of the level it affects - the legacy band can afford it - the support cant

 

[TopCat]

friend of mine is in a really good new metal band...they're signed with a first album coming out this year
they've been offered support of a big US hardcore punk band which is touring Europe this summer
theyve had to turn down all the europe dates apart from the UK ones because of all the extra costs and hassle involved - would've been 6 countries tour across about 6 weeks
i think this is a great example of the level it affects - the legacy band can afford it - the support cant

Who will be the support band now?

 

[ska invita]

Who will be the support band now?

not arranged yet, could well be bands local to that country, the tour is in summer, theyve just turned it down this week

 

[Gramsci]

The impact of fucking Brexit on the the merch side has been absolutely devastating for small bands.

My neighbour has little business selling old vinyl records to collectors. Pre Brexit it was going fine. He's lost all his EU customers post Brexit. The extra hassle etc has put them off.

For small business like this Brexit hasn't been good.

 

[wemakeyousoundb]

My neighbour has little business selling old vinyl records to collectors. Pre Brexit it was going fine. He's lost all his EU customers post Brexit. The extra hassle etc has put them off.

For small business like this Brexit hasn't been good.

yes but look at the big picture

 

[Sasaferrato]

My neighbour has little business selling old vinyl records to collectors. Pre Brexit it was going fine. He's lost all his EU customers post Brexit. The extra hassle etc has put them off.

For small business like this Brexit hasn't been good.

Hasn't been good for stamp collectors either. Customs charges, fees, VAT etc. I'm only buying from the UK now.

 

[rutabowa]

Any updates on this? I've noticed a lot of small bands organising Europe tours recently.

 

[rutabowa]

friend of mine is in a really good new metal band...they're signed with a first album coming out this year
they've been offered support of a big US hardcore punk band which is touring Europe this summer
theyve had to turn down all the europe dates apart from the UK ones because of all the extra costs and hassle involved - would've been 6 countries tour across about 6 weeks
i think this is a great example of the level it affects - the legacy band can afford it - the support cant

Tour support at that level has always been a slot the band has to finance.