Live Music Bill is commons sense

The Live Music Bill has been passed through the Commons and is now almost certain to become law, slashing the licensing red tape for small live music venues.

As recently reported, the Bill proposes a licensing exemption for venues under a capacity of 200, with certain stipulations for amplified and unamplified music. It was introduced into Parliament via the Lords by Tim Clement-Jones, and sponsored in the Commons by his Liberal Democrat colleague Don Foster. The Private Members Bill set out to address the shortcomings of the Licensing Act 2003 and the proponents were worried that it wouldn’t have time to be heard in the Commons last Friday (20 January) but it managed to slip in as the daylight saving debate faded.

The legislation now only needs to pass through the House of Lords for amendments to be considered but this largely considered a formality, as it is highly unusual for Bills to be rejected at the final hurdle before Royal Assent.

Jo Dipple, acting CEO of UK Music, one of the organisations who have extensively lobbied in support of the Bill said: "This is a great day for music. The Live Music Bill will make a real and positive difference to lives of musicians. There is no doubt that the current Licensing Act has created needless layers of bureaucracy - making it complicated and expensive for pubs and other small venues to host live gigs”.

As reported in December, the Local Government Association (LGA) showed its support for the Bill following amendments and suggested closing potential loopholes around audiences bringing their own alcohol to venues that aren’t licensed.

This is nothing short of a victory for grass roots live music- the Bill had the full support of The Gen from day one and we hope that it will address some of the ill-conceived measures of a Licensing Act that seemed designed to discourage, rather than support the smaller venues that have such a vital part to play in supporting emerging talent across the UK.