This election, there has been frustratingly little discussion about our music and nightlife industry

So far, the 2024 UK election has been dominated by discussions about migration and fiscal responsibility. As a result, the space dedicated to art, culture and music seemed relatively small.

However, there are important issues that need to be addressed in these industries, especially as city councils cut culture and heritage budgets – as happened in Birmingham in February. This has been compared to creating a “cultural wasteland” and causing “cultural deprivation”.

Despite both calling the sector “world-leading”, Labor and the Conservatives have made no specific commitments to funding creative industries.

The Conservatives highlighted their spending to date (including an unprecedented £1.57 billion support package during the pandemic), pointing to the tax incentives they have implemented for pubs and hospitality businesses. Looking to the future, they propose launching a review of the night-time economy in England, looking at how to reverse the decline in pubs and clubs and how to make our cities great places to spend time outdoors. (This is similar to what the Greens proposed, focusing more on devolving decision-making power to local authorities.)

This article is part of our State of the Arts series. These articles address the challenges facing the arts and cultural heritage industries, as well as celebrate the victories.

Meanwhile, Labor has, apart from any specific financial commitments, proposed an industrial strategy aimed at creating “good jobs” and accelerating the development of the music and nightlife industries. This is not very different from the Conservative government’s ‘Vision for the Creative Sector’ document, which was published in mid-2023.

On the face of it, the Greens have made the biggest financial commitment of any party to the UK’s creative industries – proposing a £5 billion investment in local governments to help fund local museums, theatres, libraries and art galleries keeping their local museums, theatres, libraries and art galleries open and thriving. But again, this leaves out nightlife industries such as pubs and clubs. At the same time, they propose exempting cultural events – from tickets to theaters and museums to performances in local pubs – from VAT.

The Lib Dems’ solution to financial support for the sector is to participate fully in the EU’s Creative Europe programs and rely on funding through the National Lottery. They also promised to create ‘creative enterprise zones’ to develop and regenerate the cultural heritage of areas across the UK.

In Wales, the Plaid Cymru manifesto opposes cuts to national cultural organizations. Recognizes the negative impact that such cuts have had on the sector, threatening the existence of key arts, heritage and culture organisations.

Interestingly, Plaid is the only one that clearly indicates that solutions for the industry should be the result of partnership between stakeholders. It is the only one to propose a specific plan to support independent workers – by creating a Welsh Freelance Fund, based on its 2021 Senedd manifesto and on the basis of the Republic of Ireland’s Basic Arts Income Scheme. This would impact many workers in the music and nightlife industries.

Based on previous announcements, it is likely that the SNP will pursue a similar solution, modeled on the Irish and Dutch basic income from the arts models. The SNP’s proposed Percentage for the Arts scheme will require a percentage of the cost of each new construction project for buildings, places or public spaces in Scotland to be spent on community art procurement.

Most manifestos rarely mention the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. When the parties mentioned this department, they prioritized sports education and ticket regulation.

Only the Greens and Libyan Democrats indicated in their manifestos that sport and culture are important “anchors of well-being” for communities and “an essential part of society”. This supports research that shows music has a fundamental impact on society by improving well-being.

Both sides highlight sport and culture as drivers of regeneration and sustainable development, with the SNP expected to adopt a similar stance based on its previous statements.

Conservatives still wave the flag of Music Hubs – partnerships that support and enable access to music education for children and young people in a given area. They will also continue to support apprenticeships as a key talent pool for the industry (12 months training provided).

Labor, the Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru have placed greater emphasis on access to arts and culture, recognizing it as an important part of helping children and young people develop their creativity. Labor also proposed a Music Education Network – a “one-stop shop” for information on courses and activities for parents, teachers and children.

What’s missing from manifestos

Discussions about the impact of Brexit on the music industry seem to be a thing of the past. The Greens and Libyan Democrats continue to talk about reciprocal arrangements for UK and EU musicians allowing them to tour hassle-free – but only for a short time.

Amid growing interest in artificial intelligence (AI) in creative industries, only conservatives briefly mention AI in their manifesto. Similarly, the Libyan Democrats only briefly touch on issues of copyright and licensing.

Among the organizations lobbying on behalf of the creative industries in the run-up to the 2024 election, UK Music highlighted that as a whole the sector contributes £6.7 billion to the UK economy and employs 210,000 people – “the same as the insurance sector, the steel industry and pharmaceutical in total. He called for a “world-leading music strategy” for the UK.

The Night Time Industries Association is also calling for a comprehensive long-term plan to support the post-pandemic recovery of the night time industry and encourages investment in workforce skills and training.

In its Manifesto for Music, the Grassroots Music Venue Trust criticized the deepening crisis of the industry. However, in these difficult times, with the cost of living crisis and family financial constraints, art is lagging behind – especially when it comes to the interests of the main parties.