2025 is shaping up to be an exciting and impactful year for LIVE as we establish the LIVE Trust (more on that below) and see our partnership with the Labour government deliver policy advances that address concerns and unlock opportunities for all in live music. Advances that will supply the economic growth for which the government is so desperate and send a clear message to the global live music industry that the UK remains the best place to tour.
To truly have an impact and deliver the best possible trading environment for us all, we need to focus our efforts where they matter most. The groundwork was laid in our 2024 manifesto, so now, our 2025 policy platform can empower the UK’s live music industry. And we do this work knowing we have a UK government that values our sector as an economic powerhouse, bringer of
joy, and source of soft power on the global stage. A government that believes in the power of music and wants to see more opportunities for more shows and festivals in more towns and cities across the UK.
The LIVE 2025 policy platform has six focus areas:
Kickstarting growth – Strengthening the sector and wider economy
LIVE will leverage its strong relationship with government and its plans for a new industrial strategy (launching this spring), to put live music at the heart of economic policy for the first time. This is an opportunity to push forward on reforms to VAT, tax, and business rates while also seeking export support, planning reform, improved skills provision, and investment to accelerate the green transition.
LIVE is committed to working closely with government to continue to improve and strengthen Martyn’s Law prior to it going live in 2027
Breaking down barriers to opportunity – Addressing the damage to EU touring post-Brexit The government is committed to delivering improved touring arrangements and access to more economically viable live performance opportunities. Negotiations with the EU will commence in the near future, and LIVE will play a pivotal role in ensuring government understands the required outcomes and has the most compelling data and evidence available with which to argue its case.
Ensuring a safer Britain – Making Martyn’s Law work for everyone
Live music has always prioritised its audiences and the public, with venues and events placing great emphasis on staffing, training, and procedures to deliver engaging and safe experiences. Martyn’s Law is an important new piece of legislation that needs to be implemented in a way that works for everyone. LIVE is committed to working closely with government to continue to improve and strengthen Martyn’s Law prior to it going live in 2027.
Making the UK a clean energy superpower
LIVE is committed to helping build a sustainable live music sector by accelerating its transition to net zero through increased funding and technical support and continuing to shape a unified vision for climate action in the UK’s live music sector. Delivering robust regulation of the secondary ticketing market, LIVE has worked closely with government on their plans for ticketing with a view to countering touts and secondary platforms while ensuring steps to increase visibility around pricing are appropriate.
“There is so much more we could be doing if the climate was right”
Establishing the LIVE Trust
In response to the crisis in grassroots music, the LIVE Trust has been created to deliver vital funding in support of grassroots venues, festivals, and the artists that play them and promoters that work with them. LIVE, alongside its members, has been at the forefront of developing the LIVE Trust and will play a key role in overseeing these efforts to safeguard the grassroots, boost the wider economy, and strengthen relationships with government.
Separately and together, the component parts of this policy platform show our values as a sector – partnership, inclusion, progression. Our sector generated over £6bn for the UK economy in 2023, but there is so much more we could be doing if the climate was right. And the crisis in grassroots music shows that interventions are needed to relieve the pressure on the venues, festivals, artists, and promoters that drive this critical layer of our ecosystem. LIVE will continue to act as a critical friend that will hold those in power to account while seeking to galvanise policies that align with the government’s own missions to kickstart economic growth, break down barriers to opportunity, ensure a safer Britain, and make the UK a clean-energy superpower. There are so many positive wins to be secured off the back of this partnership approach. I look forward to writing about them in IQ this time next year.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.
Our 2025 policy platform can empower the UK’s live industry
Jon Collins, chief executive of LIVE, outlines six policies that promise to address concerns and unlock opportunities for live music
21 Mar 2025
2025 is shaping up to be an exciting and impactful year for LIVE as we establish the LIVE Trust (more on that below) and see our partnership with the Labour government deliver policy advances that address concerns and unlock opportunities for all in live music. Advances that will supply the economic growth for which the government is so desperate and send a clear message to the global live music industry that the UK remains the best place to tour.
To truly have an impact and deliver the best possible trading environment for us all, we need to focus our efforts where they matter most. The groundwork was laid in our 2024 manifesto, so now, our 2025 policy platform can empower the UK’s live music industry. And we do this work knowing we have a UK government that values our sector as an economic powerhouse, bringer of
joy, and source of soft power on the global stage. A government that believes in the power of music and wants to see more opportunities for more shows and festivals in more towns and cities across the UK.
The LIVE 2025 policy platform has six focus areas:
Kickstarting growth – Strengthening the sector and wider economy
LIVE will leverage its strong relationship with government and its plans for a new industrial strategy (launching this spring), to put live music at the heart of economic policy for the first time. This is an opportunity to push forward on reforms to VAT, tax, and business rates while also seeking export support, planning reform, improved skills provision, and investment to accelerate the green transition.
Breaking down barriers to opportunity – Addressing the damage to EU touring post-Brexit The government is committed to delivering improved touring arrangements and access to more economically viable live performance opportunities. Negotiations with the EU will commence in the near future, and LIVE will play a pivotal role in ensuring government understands the required outcomes and has the most compelling data and evidence available with which to argue its case.
Ensuring a safer Britain – Making Martyn’s Law work for everyone
Live music has always prioritised its audiences and the public, with venues and events placing great emphasis on staffing, training, and procedures to deliver engaging and safe experiences. Martyn’s Law is an important new piece of legislation that needs to be implemented in a way that works for everyone. LIVE is committed to working closely with government to continue to improve and strengthen Martyn’s Law prior to it going live in 2027.
Making the UK a clean energy superpower
LIVE is committed to helping build a sustainable live music sector by accelerating its transition to net zero through increased funding and technical support and continuing to shape a unified vision for climate action in the UK’s live music sector. Delivering robust regulation of the secondary ticketing market, LIVE has worked closely with government on their plans for ticketing with a view to countering touts and secondary platforms while ensuring steps to increase visibility around pricing are appropriate.
Establishing the LIVE Trust
In response to the crisis in grassroots music, the LIVE Trust has been created to deliver vital funding in support of grassroots venues, festivals, and the artists that play them and promoters that work with them. LIVE, alongside its members, has been at the forefront of developing the LIVE Trust and will play a key role in overseeing these efforts to safeguard the grassroots, boost the wider economy, and strengthen relationships with government.
Separately and together, the component parts of this policy platform show our values as a sector – partnership, inclusion, progression. Our sector generated over £6bn for the UK economy in 2023, but there is so much more we could be doing if the climate was right. And the crisis in grassroots music shows that interventions are needed to relieve the pressure on the venues, festivals, artists, and promoters that drive this critical layer of our ecosystem. LIVE will continue to act as a critical friend that will hold those in power to account while seeking to galvanise policies that align with the government’s own missions to kickstart economic growth, break down barriers to opportunity, ensure a safer Britain, and make the UK a clean-energy superpower. There are so many positive wins to be secured off the back of this partnership approach. I look forward to writing about them in IQ this time next year.
Get more stories like this in your inbox by signing up for IQ Index, IQ’s free email digest of essential live music industry news.