- Johnny Rotten - The Sex Pistols - jauplafer.glogster.com
A revival of the grassroots music scene in the UK is on the cards after a government minister announced proposals to deregulate the entertainment licence.
The grassroots of the UK music scene has cautious cause to celebrate as a government proposal seeks to call a halt for the need of pubs and clubs to be forced to apply to their local council for an entertainment licence.
Under present laws (the 2003 Licensing Act) venues have been closing their doors on live music rather than face the cost and bureaucracy that goes with applying for a licence.
While music festivals and arenas continue to sell tickets, it?s feared that under current regulations there soon won?t be new artists coming up through the ranks to replace the ageing headliners of today.
UK Promoter Speaks Out
John Ward, a booker and promoter here in the UK, told Suite 101: ?It?s really becoming a struggle to book tours for up-and-coming bands. The tried and trusted circuits of old are gone and many towns up and down the UK just don?t have anywhere for these youngsters to play.
?I welcome the new proposals, though want to see them actually in place before getting too excited.?
John is right to be cautious as the new proposal is only part of a government consultation to be unveiled by the tourism and heritage minister, John Penrose.
One Time Undertone Is Optimistic
Feargal Sharkey, chief executive of UK Music, which represents the UK's commercial music industry, said: "We're optimistic that this will be positive news for the industry, and especially for emerging talent.
"I'd wager that all of the recent Mercury music prize nominees started their careers playing in pubs or clubs.
?In the meantime, we'll have to wait for the actual detail of the consultation, and under what specific circumstances the requirement for a music licence would be removed."
The Punk Revolution
Here in the UK pub rock was the seed that blossomed into the musical revolution that was to become punk.
London was its epicentre and the likes of Dr Feelgood, Ian Dury?s Kilburn and the High Roads, Elvis Costello and Joe Strummer were soon to be offered a route out of the spit and sawdust establishments and into the media and record buying public's consciousness and pockets.
So it was that punk's central ethos of 'if we can do it, so can you' bred a mindset into teens that there was a way out of the shackles of either years of further/higher education, or a lifetime of punching in the employment hours and watching the clock until it ceased to tick anymore.
Out With Glamour And In With The Denims
But there was nothing glamorous about the pub rock scene. It was born out of straight ahead no nonsense rock, and the dress code trounced all over the then current glam movement. Bands came kitted out in denim and plaid shirts, tatty jeans and long unkempt hair.
But without the above there would have been no Sex Pistols, The Jam, The Stranglers, The Damned and their like. Simplicity had won out, and the stage doors were open to anyone with a basic musical knowledge and a sprinkling of talent.
Should the new regulations come into force, then small venues would save on average ?1,600 a year and be freed of the requirement to register with the council.
Hope then, that a new crop of talent will keep the live music scene populated from its very roots, and on through to the main festival stages for decades to come.
Sources:
nme.com
guardian.co.uk
John Ward (promoter)
Copyright Mike Cobley. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Mike Cobley -
Mike Cobley has been an online magazine editor for twelve years and has worked in journalism for the past three decades.
david cross seychelles fast food tang carl friedrich gauss the situation aspergers
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.