Musicians and venues call on government to support crew members in #LetTheMusicPlay
It's the second wave of the campaign
Last updated 4th Aug 2020
After the initial success of the #LetTheMusicPlay campaign, organisers have launched round two, calling on the government to back crew members as well as musicians and any individuals who work to make live music happen.
In July, over 1,500 people who work in the industry made their voices heard by backing the campaign, which led to the government announcing a £1.57 billion cash injection to arts venues to help them survive after the pandemic closed down the country.
Although the move was welcomed as many iconic venues may otherwise have been lost, there are now calls to support workers within the industry - and many musicians have taken to Twitter to get on board with the campaign once again.
Festivals such as Reading and Leeds, Download and Isle of Wight have spoken out, calling for support for the industry once again.
Rock bands like Sex Pistols and New Order also got on board, with New Order writing on Twitter, 'We're proud to continue supporting the #LetTheMusicPlay campaign, highlighting the importance of the live music sector to the UK Government. We need to protect our venues, our workforce, and the infrastructure and companies that make up this business.'
Artists Noel Gallagher, formerly of Oasis, and Sam Fender posted about the impact. Noel wrote, 'The UK live music industry is a complex ecosystem supporting 200,000+ jobs and thousands of different companies and business types. This entire ecosystem needs urgent support.'
As did groups Blossoms, Enter Shikari, Foals and Keane, with Enter Shikari writing, 'It takes a lot of people to build a show. the live music industry is projected to lose approx 60% of its jobs due to #COVID19 . please share, show solidarity with the teams behind the scenes & call for further support for the live industry thank you 💙 #LetTheMusicPlay.'