Music industry responds to Lisa Nandy MP being named Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

7 July, 2024

Lisa Nandy

The music industry has reacted to news of Lisa Nandy MP’s appointment as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

She was appointed by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, after the Labour Party swept hundreds of seats across the country and ended 14 years of Conservative rule at the 2024 General Election.

Nandy will be responsible for overall strategy and policy across the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, including allocating grant-in-aid funding for the British Film Institute (BFI), and is set to oversee a review of the licence fee.

In a post on X/Twitter, she wrote: “From rugby league to Royal Opera, our cultural and sporting heritage runs through our towns, villages and cities and is one of our country’s greatest assets.

“It is an unbelievable privilege to take on the role of Secretary of State @DCMS. The hard work begins today.”

The Music Venue Trust’s (MVT) Mark Davyd has said in a statement: “Lisa arrives into the role at a critical time for live music in our communities, with the opportunity to deliver real, positive, long lasting change that can protect, secure and improve the nation’s grassroots music venues.”

His comments come after repeated calls from the music industry to better protect grassroots venues.

Earlier this year, an MVT report showed the “disaster” facing those venues, and warned: “We are losing the next generation of British talent because we can’t be bothered to get it right,” with the FAC asking: “What good is it keeping venues open if artists can’t afford to perform in them?”

The FAC also recently welcomed the new Labour government with “a resounding mandate for change”, and shared their hopes that the party can “quickly deliver the much-anticipated reforms to music streaming alongside greater support for the live music ecosystem”.

MVT’s Davyd echoed those comments, concluding: “We look forward to meeting with her as soon as possible so we can begin the work of getting British music back to its rightful position as the beating heart of our towns and cities.”

Similarly, Tom Gray, Chair of The Ivors Academy, offered Nandy congratulations “from our whole songwriter and composer community and everyone at The Ivors Academy”.

He continued: “We cannot wait to start working with a government that cares about and understands culture. This is a moment for real change, where we can work to ensure that songwriters and composers are valued and fairly rewarded. We can build a thriving music workforce that benefits our cities and regions, improves mental health and drives growth.”

Nandy has previously voiced support for struggling nightclubs and live music venues.

“Every single town has lost a nightclub they feel very strongly about, that was part of our history and our heritage, in Wigan we had northern soul and we miss all of that greatly,” she told told Times Radio in 2022.

“Live music venues that used to sustain bands like The Verve, who come from Wigan, who could gig and play around Wigan, now just have to travel into Manchester to do it, those things have disappeared in the last couple of decades.”

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