{"id":580,"date":"2009-12-03T11:52:03","date_gmt":"2009-12-03T11:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/?p=580"},"modified":"2009-12-04T10:18:03","modified_gmt":"2009-12-04T10:18:03","slug":"dont-strike-up-the-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2009\/12\/03\/dont-strike-up-the-band\/","title":{"rendered":"Don&#8217;t strike up the band"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\nvar d = new Date();\ntheDay=d.getDay();\nswitch (theDay)\n{\ncase 1:\ndocument.write(\"Blue Monday\");\nbreak;\ncase 2:\ndocument.write(\"Ruby Tuesday\");\nbreak;\ncase 3:\ndocument.write(\"Ok its that sort of day, how about a visit to www.livemusiclondon.com\");\nbreak\ncase 5:\n  document.write(\"<b>Thank god its Finally Friday<\/b>\");\n  break;\ncase 6:\n  document.write(\"<b>Saturday must be a gig day<\/b>\");\n  break;\ncase 0:\n  document.write(\"<b>Sleepy Sunday<\/b>\");\n  break;\ndefault:\n  document.write(\"<b>I'm really looking forward to this weekend!<\/b>\");\n}\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Nigel Hawkes :: Wed, 02\/12\/2009 &#8211; 09:41<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Visit a pub and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s every chance you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll hear background Muzak, or high-volume Sky Sports coverage of Premiership football. But what are the chances of hearing live music? At least as good as they have ever been, says the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which controls the licensing of pubs. Nonsense, say musicians, who blame the 2003 Licensing Act for drowning live music in red tape. The facts to settle this argument ought to be there, but aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. Ever since the act came into force there has been a long-running argument between the department and its critics, who assert that dodgy statistics, misleading statements by ministers, and a failure to collect the right sort of data make its claims unbelievable. Far from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153flourishing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, as the Government claims, music in pubs is declining or dying, they say. The department\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s claims are based on rising numbers of premises applying for licences \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 8,000 more in the latest statistical return, up to March 2009. But comparison with the period before the act is difficult, because then all licensed premises had the right to have live music played by one or two musicians, without applying for any further authority. All private functions raising money for good causes were exempt, as were all performances on public land. The 2003 legislation abolished all these categories. The act was heavily criticised during its passage through Parliament, so in 2004 DCMS commissioned MORI to survey how it had affected live music in pubs\/inns, hotels, restaurants\/cafes, student unions, small clubs, members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 clubs and associations and church and community halls. The minister responsible at the time, Richard Caborn, celebrated the results as showing that there had been 1.7 million gigs \u00e2\u20ac\u0153in bars, clubs and restaurants\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in the past year. In fact, this figure covered all the premises listed. In pubs\/inns, clubs and small restaurants the number was only 850,000. Hamish Birchall, a jazz drummer, adviser to the Musicians\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Union during the passage of the bill, and tireless critic of the legislation ever since, challenged the minister\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s claim and referred the case to the Market Standards Research Board, who agreed that the claim had been misleading. While this was going on, the DCMS retrospectively changed the press release on its website to make it look as if Caborn had never made the claim in the first place. The MSRB ruled that the actual number was 1.3 million, but that covered pubs\/inns, restaurants, and two categories of club \u00e2\u20ac\u201c small clubs and members\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 clubs and associations. When challenged, a DCMS minister in the Lords acknowledged that the press release had been changed to correct \u00e2\u20ac\u0153a misleading statement\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. In 2007 the DCMS commissioned another survey, which concluded that 76 per cent of pubs and clubs had a licence to stage live music. The 2004 survey showed that, historically, only 44 per cent had done so \u00e2\u20ac\u201c evidence that the number had increased, not diminished. (There are questions about the reliability of the 76 per cent figure, because many of those interviewed were not responsible for obtaining the licence, and in about a fifth of pubs licensing is handled centrally by a management company. It would have been better if DCMS had simply searched local authority public licensing registers.) However, this survey combined with the evidence that music licences are growing at 5 per cent a year, have convinced the DCMS that the Act is a success. But when asked in the Lords last month what proportion of that increase is accounted for by schools and councils, and what proportion by premises that would not have needed a licence before the 2003 Act, Lord Davies of Oldham replied that no such data was collected. In that case, Hamish Birchall argues, a meaningful comparison is impossible, in spite of ministerial claims that the Act \u00e2\u20ac\u0153had improved things, not made things worse\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. The DCMS claim on 22 October when the latest statistics were published that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153more licencees are widening their customer appeal by putting on live music\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is, he says, misleading or irrelevant because we do not know who these licencees actually are. Still, it is good to know that the DCMS statistician Adam Cooper is a regular reader of The Publican. In response to a story in the newspaper in August reporting that the Local Government Association had been forced to withdraw claims that 80 per cent of licensed venues were permitted to host live acts (the correct figure, it now says, is 55 per cent) Dr Cooper weighed in in the Readers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Comments section, pointing to the 2007 survey in support of the original LGA claim, but not disclosing who he was. Mr Birchall, who recognised the name as that of the DCMS statistician he had earlier corresponded with, promptly reported him to DCMS for a breach of the Civil Service code of honesty and impartiality. (No holds are barred in this battle.) But Dr Cooper was exonerated because, said the head of Human Resources at DCMS, he was merely presenting in a neutral manner extracts from a publicly available document. He should, she acknowledged, have identified himself as a member of DCMS staff in the first comment he posted. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The DCMS is content for staff to participate in online debate about their work, provided they do so openly and in accordance with the Civil Service Code and do not bring the department into disrepute\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. The campaigners for live music see a glimmer of light in the recent promise by Gerry Sutcliffe, whose portfolio as Minister of Sport evidently includes licensing, to consult on plans to allow venues with a capacity of 100 or fewer to put on live music without a licence. The plans were welcomed by John Whittingdale MP, Chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, whose report in May said that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153absurd\u00e2\u20ac\u009d licensing laws were damaging the live music scene. But hardened campaigners like Mr Birchall suspect the consultation is a delaying tactic. Just how peculiar the legislation is was shown by new guidance on the act\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exemption of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153incidental music\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from requiring a licence. A pub can put on a performance by a stand-up comedian backed by a piano without needing a licence: but a pianist backed by a stand-up comedian needs one. You can have a pianist or other instrumentalist playing background music, but unless you have a licence you cannot allow patrons to join in in a sing-song. A group of carol singers outside a shop is exempt: but not a carol performance organised in a shopping mall. Further, for incidental music \u00e2\u20ac\u0153there should be no expectation to listen or to watch\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<br \/>\n<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>So music\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fine in pubs if you don&#8217;t listen to it.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Nigel Hawkes :: Wed, 02\/12\/2009 &#8211; 09:41 Visit a pub and there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s every chance you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll hear background Muzak, or high-volume Sky Sports coverage of Premiership football. But what are the chances of hearing live music? At least as good as they have ever been, says the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which controls &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2009\/12\/03\/dont-strike-up-the-band\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Don&#8217;t strike up the band<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-elephant-shelf","category-history","category-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6NRDR-9m","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":160148,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2020\/04\/16\/hiding-in-your-shadow\/","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":0},"title":"Hiding In Your Shadow","author":"diana Stone","date":"April 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If you are enjoying the music Actually a lot of the music is up beat and optimistic so figure that one out, I wish I could.Perhaps because music takes me to another place that I can not otherwise occupy, or maybe at the best of times opens a doorway for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Diana Stones Songs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Diana Stones Songs","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/diana_stones_songs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/keys-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/keys-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/keys-768x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":151850,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2019\/11\/15\/maybe-someday\/","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":1},"title":"Maybe someday","author":"diana Stone","date":"November 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/dianastone\/he-who-has-ears An interesting year in every possible way. So where do we go from here? I have no idea. At the time of writing the UK is still part of the EU though I suspect not for that much longer sadly. I have spent a lot of time soul searching\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Musings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":177453,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2024\/06\/10\/mental-health-days\/","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":2},"title":"Mental Health Days","author":"diana Stone","date":"June 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Yep, it's a bit rocky again out of the blue. There's a surprise. Not. I was reading an article about bullying and it reminded me of a lot of things.if you survive if, it's difficult not to become that thing yourself when you misguidedly think your just trying to protect\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Delta Ladies&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Delta Ladies","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/delta-ladies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Looking-west.jpg?fit=1200%2C460&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Looking-west.jpg?fit=1200%2C460&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Looking-west.jpg?fit=1200%2C460&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Looking-west.jpg?fit=1200%2C460&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Looking-west.jpg?fit=1200%2C460&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":174944,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2021\/05\/15\/a-slow-opening-up-has-started\/","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":3},"title":"A slow opening up has started.","author":"diana Stone","date":"May 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Diana Stones Glasscage \u00b7 Just Above The Moon \u00a0 Today I was out again having tea in Bedford park.\u00a0 It's been bright and sunny with quite a lot of people out enjoying themselves. The late spring is now gathering momentum too. I am feeling a bit low again. Starting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Delta Ladies&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Delta Ladies","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/delta-ladies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":162328,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2020\/05\/27\/may-2020-round-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":4},"title":"May 2020 round up","author":"diana Stone","date":"May 27, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 All live music has stopped so that has reduced my income by about a third.\u00a0 I have had one or two bits of freelance session work. Recording can be done remotely quite easily now. That kind of work is unusual for me (as in decent pay), but there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Musings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/20200526_113025-882x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/20200526_113025-882x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/20200526_113025-882x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":175604,"url":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2022\/12\/07\/keep-on-trying-till-you-get-right-right\/","url_meta":{"origin":580,"position":5},"title":"Keep On Trying Till You Get It Right, Right?","author":"diana Stone","date":"December 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"If only everything in life was that easy? But its not. A philosophical reflection on music from my perspective. I love it and people perceive what I do as being of some worth. But I will never really feel as though I really have it enough serious effort. In live\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Musings&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/category\/musings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Diana Stone smiling at the piano","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Diana-Smiling-Piano-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Diana-Smiling-Piano-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Diana-Smiling-Piano-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Diana-Smiling-Piano-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Diana-Smiling-Piano-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Diana-Smiling-Piano-1.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":585,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580\/revisions\/585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}