www.musicweek.com 10
BIG INTERVIEW
PHANTOM MANAGEMENT “Iron Maiden have never worried about what’s contemporary. We don’t think that way”
14
REPORT
INSTAGRAM “We’re the most personal platform for artists. They want to communicate authentic content”
18 01.05.17
£5.50 PROFILE
GORILLAZ “We never use technology for its own sake. It has to make sense for the band”
New UK Music boss: I’ll target Brexit fix for biz
FORMER MP MICHAEL DUGHER TAKES OVER AS CEO, AIMS TO SECURE MORE GOVERNMENT SUPPORT for the INDUSTRY
POLITICS BY MARK SUTHERLAND
I
ncoming UK Music chief executive Michael Dugher has pledged to hit the ground running, as he believes the General Election and Brexit negotiations offer crucial opportunities for the music biz to put its case to Government.
Dugher – a former Shadow Secretary Of State for Culture, Media & Sport and Labour MP for Barnsley East since 2010 – will join the trade body in mid-May, taking over from Jo Dipple, who served as CEO for five years. And, with a General Election on June 8 and Brexit negotiations likely to begin in earnest soon after polling day, he is not planning on easing himself into the role.
“There’s an opportunity for UK Music during the election to be influencing all the political parties about issues that are important to our members,” he said, talking exclusively to Music Week in his first interview since taking the job. “Then Brexit will dominate everything for the next couple of years and that’s really a critical period for the industry.
“We’ve got to make sure the things that are important to us, and the protections we’ve got from the European Union are transposed seamlessly into the statute in the UK. But there’s also an opportunity in some of these trade deals to further beat the drum for the industry and the creative community.” A self-taught multi-instrumentalist and Beatles fanatic who played a show at the Cavern Club last year, Dugher has never worked in the music business, but was prominent in several campaigns around the sector during his political career. While
New Beat: Beatles fan Michael Dugher is UK Music’s new frontman
Shadow Secretary Of State, he fought for the rights of small music venues, something he’s keen to continue in his new role. “I’ve had a life working in politics but a lifelong obsession with music,” he said. “The decline in venues is extremely worrying; that’s not just an issue for central Government in terms of planning, it’s an issue for devolved authorities, the London Mayor and the new metro mayors in Merseyside, Manchester and the West Midlands.”
Dugher – whose appointment was welcomed by UK Music members including the BPI and PRS For Music – pledged to continue the trade body’s pioneering work in music education, protecting intellectual property and promoting music biz diversity. He also said he would lobby hard for greater Government support for the entire sector. “The music business has got a strong case,” he said. “This is an industry that should be treated like any other big industry. It’s not just a ‘nice to have’, which is sometimes how the creative industries are viewed [by Government], they should be seen like any other hugely successful British industry that’s absolutely, strategically important for the British economy.
“It’s an industry that’s not afraid to stand up and be counted – I’ve been impressed with them over the years and if I can help take it forward then that’s great.”
Dugher hailed Dipple for doing “a fantastic job”. “She’s really professionalised the operations of UK Music,” he added. “UK Music is a tough organisation that politicians of all parties have had to sit up and listen to in recent years.”
And Dugher stressed that, despite his Labour background, UK Music would remain politically neutral.
“Music is a non-partisan issue and it’s really important that that continues to be the case,” he stressed. “And this job is absolutely non-partisan. It’s not about left or right or Labour or the Tories, there are some Parliamentarians who really get this industry and who love their music and they’re on all sides of the political divide. It’s my job to engage with all of those.”
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
