Tom Kiehl: Last News

This Is Music 2024 report today (November 20) have revealed that the industry’s contributions to the economy in 2023 increased by 13 per cent from 2022, marking a record high.The increase is part of a wider trend, with UK music exports revenue also hitting a new high of £4.6billion, up 15 per cent from the previous year. Elsewhere, employment is also up, with 216,000 people now working in the industry, compared to 210,000 in 2022.Though these statistics point to growth in the industry, much of the grassroots sector continues to face challenges.

UK Music, which is the collective voice of the UK music industry, has urged Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to cut VAT in the spring Budget to throw the sector a “vital lifeline” and save venues that are threatened by closure.Tom Kiehl, UK Music’s Interim Chief Executive, has asked Hunt to use his Budget next Wednesday (March 6) to lower the current 20 per cent VAT rate on tickets to 10 per cent as a “boost for consumers, music professionals and venues”.The request to slash VAT is among the recommendations that UK Music has made to the Government in its Budget submission, which outlines the support the sector needs to grow (read it in full here).Currently, music fans in the UK must pay 20 per cent VAT on their tickets – almost double the EU average (10.3 per cent) and around triple the rate in countries like Belgium (six per cent) and Germany (seven per cent). ‌ The 20 per cent rate is the third highest rate of cultural ticketing in Europe. Gig-goers pay more tax on UK tickets than anywhere else in Europe, except Denmark and Lithuania.The calls come amid growing concerns for the future of grassroots venues.

UK Music Interim Chief Executive Tom Kiehl has urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to respond to the music industry’s concerns around artificial intelligence (AI) by introducing some form of legal protection around the developing technology.Kiehl and UK Music have suggested that AI could be a form of “music laundering,” opening up a potential means for creatives to not receive compensation for their work.Sunak recently insisted that “the UK’s answer is not to rush to regulate” the use of artificial intelligence.In a letter to the PM, Kiehl urged copyright protection on music and emphasises that AI firms consent to use artists’ copyright-protected work.“Machine learning involves numerous rights, including copyright, which in most countries are not subject to an exception that restricts creators and rightsholders’ abilities to exercise their rights,” he wrote. “As a general principle, the use of music during the ingestion process (in the past, present and future) should always require permission from the creator and the rightsholder.”He adds: “Failure to ensure this basic human right will jeopardise thousands of UK jobs and threaten the fragile talent pipeline on which the music industry relies to nurture the music professionals who are the envy of the world.”He also emphasised the importance of transparency elsewhere in the letter.