Tom HallUK Music has welcomed the Government’s announcement of a £150 million sector deal for the creative industries.
The deal is one of the first to be revealed under the Government’s Industrial Strategy, and aims to set out a number of initiatives to boost growth and productivity in the UK’s music industry and other creative industries.
Worth a total of £92bn, the creative industries employ two million people. The music industry alone contributes £4.4bn to the UK economy.
In frequent meetings with ministers and senior officials, UK Music pressed the Government to safeguard the interests of the world-leading music business and pushed to secure commitments on intellectual property and other key areas.
UK Music welcomed measures contained in the deal including:
- Addressing the transfer of value from creative industries, progressing work on closing the value gap at the European and domestic levels.
- Developing codes of practice to further cooperative measures aimed at significantly reducing online infringement in the UK.
- £2 million Government investment in the ‘Get it Right’ copyright campaign.
- Government providing £20m over the next two years to roll out a Cultural Development Fund.
- The creation of an industry and government Trade and Investment Board targeting a 50 per cent increase in creative industries exports by 2023.
- Moves to develop the next generation of creatives and nurture the talent pipeline.
- The commitment to develop more clusters of world-class creative industries to narrow the gap between London, the South East and other regions.
UK Music CEO Michael Dugher said: “For more than a year, UK Music has worked intensively with the Government and the Creative Industries Council to get the best possible deal for the music industry.
“I’m delighted that the Government has listened and delivered a deal which should pave the way for the UK music industry to continue its world-beating success story.
“We welcome the commitment to strengthen the talent pipeline to address current and future skills needs, as well ensuring the industry is more representative of UK society.
“The creative industries sector deal provides a fantastic opportunity to boost the competitiveness of our industry, which contributes £4.4bn to the UK economy, generates exports of £2.5bn and employs over 140,000 people.
“The Government, and Secretaries of State Matt Hancock and Greg Clark, should be congratulated for recognising the importance of the creative industries to the UK and working with the sector to achieve this deal. The sector deal reaffirms the Government’s welcome commitments to addressing the transfer of value. We hope the measures can be used to support other key aspects of the music industry’s infrastructure, such as venues, studios or rehearsal spaces.
“It is vital that we now build on the opportunity of a sector deal and that Government continues to work with the music industry to develop further measures to support talent development and a diverse workforce so our globally successful sector can continue to grow.”