2 July 2020

The live music industry and spend associated with events added £4.5bn to the economy in 2019 and supported 210,000 jobs across the country. Yet throughout this pandemic, the whole industry has been at a standstill; closing its doors, abandoning the tour trucks and packing away this Summer’s festival gear, with a return to business date still yet unknown.

The UK live music industry is the second biggest in the world but stands to lose at least £900 million if it remains closed for the rest of 2020. UK arenas, including our very own Resorts World Arena and Utilita Arena Birmingham, are also set to lose five million visitors due to COVID-19. This is why we are supporting the music industry’s new campaign #LetTheMusicPlay.

Today’s launch will see 24 hours of industry-wide action to encourage Government support through the current crisis.  Based primarily on social media, it will begin with a letter being delivered to culture secretary Oliver Dowden signed by thousands of artists, crew and venues. Names on the letter include Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, the Rolling Stones, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, Skepta, Lewis Capaldi, Little Mix and many more.

Additional musicians, record labels, venues, ticket agents, production companies, and everyone else that play their part in our fantastic industry will be encouraged to spread the word.

What we need you to do...

We also need your help to make some noise.

We need you to share a picture or video of the last live show you attended using the hashtag #letthemusicplay across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.