Original article published on Evening Express (Scotland) (10/10/18)

The U.K. Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee is being pressured to consider a "ticket tax" and give live venues cultural equality with institutions to protect British music. The tax would have patrons pay an additional percentage on their ticket, which would be put into a collective fund that could be redistributed to venues in need. Also placed before the committee was a proposal to slash business rates for live music venues to halt their decline, and grant them the same concessions as culturally important museums and art galleries. Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd told the committee: "What we have to do here, is to start sharing the risk, sharing the risk that these venues are taking." He emphasized that implementing strategies to preserve the music ecosystem so artists continue to be cultivated and promoted depends on "cultural parity, cultural parity in legislation." Davyd also said music venues cannot currently cover the 38 percent average increase in music rates. "We've seen a failure to say 'these are culturally important,'" he lamented.

Read the full story on the Evening Express (Scotland) website.