If the government get their way new bands will have nowhere to perform. There's an article on NME.COM about, it or just follow this link direct to the petition.

http://www.petitiononline.com/2inabar/petition.html

I saw this on another message board, and to be honest, it does make a lot of sense -


The new law is known as the 3 in 1 law. Under current Uk law you need a different licence to run a different kind of venue (be it alcohol, live music or later opening times). The new law allows all venues to apply for the same license, which allows venues to stay open later and play live music to the public. This is an important point, because it is already illegal to hold entertainment to the public anywhere without a license. By public i mean people off of the street, it is already illegal to use your house as a venue, so there is no change to this with the new law.
musicians and promoters (etc) do not need a license, only the venues need a license, and i think you'll find it hard to find a venue that won't have this new license when it comes into affect (especially if they want to make any money), therefore bands and musicians are very safe. Even if they did play in a venue without a license it would be the owner of the building or licensee that would be in any trouble.
Schools, churches and everywhere else that holds public meetings already have a license that allows them to hold performances of any sort, be it music or otherwise.

The new law is a godsend to bands, musicians and anyone involved with live music, it basicaly allows ANY venue with this license to hold a performance. The bands do not need anything, kids with recorders do not need a license to play an instrument and every other stupid thing that people want to make up.

This increases the opportunites for bands, it means musicians have more chance of making money, and playing in front of a crowd and getting vital gig experience if they are ever to get anywhere.


I recomend people read the bill in full and understand exactly what its all about before they waste their time by faxing their local MP.

It would also be stupid of me not to mention that the argument originated from a band in Leeds that did not understand what the new law is about, they hijacked the bill and used it for self promotion, and it worked. All your examples of schoolkids being fined, and people getting arrested for singing happy birthday were made up by some stupid kids in a shitty band from Leeds.

The only people this is really going to harm is churches and youth centres etc, who are hardly going to want to fork out for a complete licence, including an alcohol licence, just to have a choir or childrens band. Admittedly, there does need to be an adjustment in the bill to accommodate this.

Save your breathe and your own time and do something useful, sign a petition to stop your own country bombing Iraq.

...is the cost. For many small pubs etc it will not be viable to buy the licence, so they won't book bands. The only places you'll be able to see bands playing will be establishes venues, which will make it harder for new bands to get exposure and the chance to gain experience of playing in front of an audience.

Really, whenever the government blindly interferes with the liberties of it people - be it this or by threatening an unwarranted, unsupported strike on Iraq - then it's everyone's civil duty to register their objection.

As for Iraq, I believe there's a demo in London very soon. If you can, go along and show Blair and Bush that the British people do not support them.

The main problem is that solo artists are exempt from the current two in a bar rule, the musicians union lobied govenment to change this so that there would be no need for a music license (If I am wrong I stand to be corrected)The government in their oh so wise wisdom saw fit to impose an even more draconian licensing act thus meaning that the old boy in my local who plays the pubs piano whenever he's in there will not be able to, or the land lord will be prosecuted. This I feel is a ridiculous state of affairs, especially as the only people who will really benifit will be the large pub co's and bloody bars, which have been killing decent original live music for years. And as for the argument that we should spend our time petitioning about Iraq, I have signed both written to my M.P. about both issues and I do not really see why we can't protest about both.

i agree with Reg, my band have just started gigging in small pubs in my local area. Without this we would have never got a chance to play, as bigger clubs wont give unknown bands a chance. After weighing up the costs i dont think many small pubs will be able to afford the licence fee, as they dont make the money back out of the new bands.

Where will the future of music lie then?

When you live in a rural area like I do there are very few venues for new / young bands full stop. There's a church / village hall or local pub if you are lucky. These places seem to look for any excuse not to let these bands play as it is and anything that would require some effort or expenditure on their part will probably mean them not bothering.