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LIVE report identifies UK freelancers’ concerns

UK trade body LIVE (Live music Industry Venues & Entertainment) has revealed the findings of a comprehensive survey of freelance professionals working in the UK live music sector.

In partnership with Handle Freelance Solutions, The Back Lounge and UK Live Event Freelancers Forum, Powered by Freelancers – The Live Music Edition 2024 was commissioned to help understand and identify the changes required to improve the experiences of freelancers.

A total of 1,281 live music freelancers contributed to the survey, with 87% of respondents stating that “freelance work provides my primary income.”

“Freelancers are crucial to the success of the live music ecosystem and our industry relies on them to deliver unforgettable experiences for fans,. That is why LIVE was delighted to partner with Handle Freelance Solutions, The Back Lounge and UK Live Event Freelancers Forum to produce this groundbreaking report, the first of its kind, and in doing so deliver invaluable insight into the freelance experience,” says Jon Collins CEO of LIVE, which represents 16 live music industry organisations.

“Much in the report is great to see, not least the resoundingly positive response from people when asked if ours is a great industry to be in. Of course, reports like this will always highlight opportunities for improvement and we will be taking all of these learnings and funnelling them into the work of our LIVE Workforce group, where industry experts alongside ED&I and workforce specialists work towards objectives that positively impact the current and future workforce of our industry.”

“The research mirrors the conversations that we have daily”

The report identifies a core positivity but with key concerns and suggestions for improvement. A key finding was that 73% of respondents agreed that live music is a great industry for freelancers to work in, with over 60% feeling ‘optimistic’ about the next 12 months. However, the report also highlights areas where changes are required to improve the experience of freelancers, including financial security, better pay, flexibility and work-life balance.

In addition, 59% of respondents agreed that enough freelance jobs were available, but 56% said that they found it difficult to access or secure those roles. This also raised issues among younger people and non-male respondents with some expressing less optimism about job security and more difficulty finding work.

“The research mirrors the conversations that we have daily,” says Darren Woolnough, MD at Handle Freelance Solutions said. “It highlights a significant concern where late payments and a lack of formal contracts can often be normalised within the freelance community. Instead of pointing fingers, our commitment is to provide the guidance and solutions to help companies understand how they can deliver an exceptional freelancer experience and this research is invaluable to helping us do exactly that.”

The cancellation of work by event organisers at short notice also emerged as a key concern. With less than half of respondents (49%) having signed contracts in the last 12 months before agreeing roles, a similar percentage have experienced cancellation of work in the same period with 48% having jobs cancelled with less than one week’s notice.

“We now have an invaluable temperature check of where we as an industry, powered predominantly by freelancers, are at, right now”

“Having worked on this since July last year when the idea came to life, I feel both privileged and very proud to be part of an amazing team who have given their all to dive deep into the freelance world and then see the remarkable responses,” Paul Jones, director of event production specialist Ethix Management.

“Taking this survey data forward to help professional freelancers in the live sector become better supported is now one of the priorities. Having previewed to audiences, we have seen some very positive reactions and hope they become a main topic of conversation on improving an industry that so many are incredibly passionate about.”

A link to the full report can be found here.

“Thanks to everyone who took the time to fill in the survey, we now have an invaluable temperature check of where we as an industry, powered predominantly by freelancers, are at, right now,” adds Suzi Green, founder of The Back Lounge. “Hopefully it will spark conversations, provoke reactions, and ultimately help influence positive change in some of the areas where change is much needed.”

 


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New global network launches for production pros

A new global networking platform, Entourage Pro (EP), has launched for freelance production crew.

The platform enables live crew to promote their skills and expertise, and register their availability for more than 140 freelance roles, from backline to stage design.

EP, which has partnered with companies such as Yamaha, D&B Audiotechnik and Neutrik, is the brainchild of Manchester-based industry veteran Joel Perry, in partnership with Showcase. Perry tells IQ the idea for a centralised database of crew was five years in making.

“We had amassed a database of around 8,000 freelancers from across the globe who had, at some point, either enquired as to any touring positions becoming available or provided a CV to put on file,” says Perry. “This became a regular occurrence, which got us thinking.

“Of the 8,000 crew invited to join us on beta-testing, we had a conversion rate of around 2,700 people, which is very strong. If we reach anywhere near 30% of freelancers operating globally, we will have created something member’s can really feel a part of.

It is estimated that we have lost 25% of the workforce, who have simply been impacted too greatly

“It’s as much about trust and safeguarding as it is anything else,” he adds. “The industry is relatively tiny, but it services the world – and we should celebrate that, not lose sight of it.”

Perry fears it could take years for the production industry to fully recover from the pandemic.

“It’s estimated that we have lost 25% of the workforce, who have simply been impacted too greatly,” says Perry. “That’s a lot of people who have had to either re-train or change career and amongst them are some of the most successful in their field. That’s the top and bottom of it.

“What we thought was an incredibly robust industry, fell very quickly – but equally, the signs are we’ll return stronger. We are already working on Stage 2 – The Entourage Pro initiative; Learns – where we provide students and those with a keen interest in the various aspects of the industry with entry points.”

Perry says the endorsement of high-profile artists including Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, Duff McKagan, Richard Hawley and Mani, as well as promoter Harvey Goldsmith, has been crucial in getting the initiative off the ground.

“They understand the value, they understand the impact – and they know how vital their crew are to show production,” says Perry. “We are lucky to have either known or worked with many of the artists, promoters and managers etc, who helped champion our cause.

“We want to become the go-to resource and save artists, labels and supply companies, time, money and effort by providing the most up to date information for the most qualified, personnel for the job. It’s that simple.”

 


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Support for UK freelancers: Close, but no cigar

Following the introduction of the job retention scheme (JRS) to provide support for employers and employees during the pandemic-induced downturn, the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, faced mounting pressure to introduce similar measures for the UK’s self-employed. Voila, on 26 March, the chancellor announced the self-employed income support scheme (SEISS), purportedly covering at least 95% of the UK’s 5 million self-employed workers.

While this is a massive handout from the government which will likely serve as a lifeline for thousands of freelancers in the coming weeks, the scheme’s limitations has raised concerns. The government will effectively be withholding substantive support from significant sections of the freelance population in the live music industry, many of whose livelihoods have effectively dried up overnight, including any freelancer who runs a loan-out company (ie a personal service company, whereby they are both the owner-director and sole employee) and takes their profits out by way of both dividend and salary.

The lack of government support could potentially have a significant negative impact on the UK’s creative industry, given the prevalence of this model in the sector.

The level of state support provided under both the JRS and SEISS is unprecedented. Those freelancers who meet the qualifying criteria for the SEISS will be able to claim a grant of 80% of their monthly profits based on a calculation of their average monthly earnings over their last three years’ of tax returns, up to a cap of £2,500 per month.

The scheme is initially set to run from 1 March for three months (although may well be extended depending on the length of the lockdown), with a lump payment scheduled to be made to qualifying freelancers in June. However, the qualifying conditions are quite stringent, including that the freelancer’s annual trading profits must be less than £50,000; the individual must have been self-employed prior to 6 April 2019; have suffered a trading loss as a result of Covid-19; and that over half their earnings must have been from self-employed work.

The government will effectively be withholding support from significant sections of the live industry whose livelihoods have dried up overnight

The policy rationale for some of these criteria seems logical. For example, the profits criterion will mean that many successful freelancers, such as senior camera operators, lighting directors and talent on TV and film productions, may not qualify. Arguably, this is a reasonable outcome for a scheme intended to provide a safety net for those freelancers who need it most. Indeed, the chancellor has suggested that the individuals excluded on this basis have an average income of £200,000.

On the other hand, a few of the remaining criteria appear to mean that there is no safety net available to certain classes of freelancers, which may also include those who need it most: First, those freelancers who move regularly between pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) and self-employed engagements have been omitted from the scheme and may not qualify for the JRS if they were not under an employment contract as of 28 February. Second, any new business, ie any freelancer who was not self-employed as of 6 April 2019 will not receive any benefits under SEISS.

Finally, those freelancers running loan-out companies which operate PAYE systems have also been excluded: The government has tried to offer reassurance by stating that these individuals could ‘furlough’ up to 80% of their PAYE income via the JRS (which provides up to £2,500 of ‘wages’ per month to employees).

While this may be genuinely helpful to some, it is unlikely to be a silver bullet in the majority of cases. Most freelancers with loan-outs pay themselves a low salary and take the majority of their income out as dividends. This is the most tax-efficient way of taking their money out of the company and is permitted under the UK’s tax system.

In the context of the UK government’s Covid-19 measures, however, this means that these individuals will not qualify for SEISS and will only receive government support under the JRS calculated by reference to their low salary, not their loan-out’s overall profits. This simply may not be enough for some.

Clearly, both the JRS and SEISS are schemes designed in days that would usually have taken months to develop and launch. Equally evident in the detailed provisions of the scheme is the government’s concern that the benefits available will be abused by some. Nonetheless, neither of these factors should result in schemes that unnecessarily penalise individuals acting within the existing tax rules, as the impact on British industries could be long-lasting.

The scheme unnecessarily penalises individuals acting within the existing tax rules

The short-term and time-bound nature of the live music industry means it is particularly dependent on freelancers. It is therefore important on an individual and sector level that those using loan-out companies are given the financial support they need over the next few months to survive. Some industry commentators believe there will not be a full return to normal in respect of live music events until early 2021, and so this sector may be more impacted than others. It is hoped that the government would continue to provide support for those who need it for so long as there is a business case for it.

When announcing the SEISS, the chancellor made it clear that it had been challenging to provide equivalent protection for employees and self-employed workers given the differences in tax contributions currently. He also indicated that the efforts to compensate both self-employed individuals and employees equally during the Covid-19 pandemic might lead to a renewed focus on tax standardisation in the UK – meaning there are likely to be changes made to the UK’s tax system following the current crisis to even out the tax treatment between the employed and self-employed.

This would certainly be a better time to take considered measures to align the effective tax rates of employees and freelancers; however, any measures that involve increasing the effective tax rate for the self-employed should be designed with care and with their potential impact across all industries, including the media sector, taken into account.

It seems that a post-Covid-19 world will see many changes in working practices and, potentially, how parties contract. For now, however, the enormous efforts made by the British government to provide support for both employed and self-employed individuals during an unparalleled time should be recognised.

At Wiggin we are doing our part to support both the policy initiatives and the industry, collating responses to the scheme from stakeholders across the creative sector and submitting a series of questions and suggestions directly to HMRC’s Covid-19 team. It is to be hoped that, with further consideration and clarification, both the SEISS and JRS can fully achieve their aims.

 


Ceri Stoner is a partner at media, technology and IP law firm Wiggin LLP.

Live Nation launches $10m Crew Nation fund

Live entertainment behemoth Live Nation has set up a relief fund to support touring and venue crews through the coronavirus pandemic.

The company has committed $10 million to the Crew Nation fund, contributing an initial $5m directly – including $250,000 personally from CEO Michael Rapino and his family – and matching the next $5m donated by artists, fans and employees dollar for dollar.

“Live music inspires millions around the world, but the concerts we all enjoy wouldn’t be possible without the countless crew members working behind the scenes,” reads a Live Nation statement. “As Covid-19 puts concerts on pause, we want to extend a helping hand to the touring and venue crews who depend on shows to make a living.”

The fund will give financial aid to crew members, “the backbone of the live music industry”, including tour managers, production managers, riggers, sound engineers, lighting technicians and special effects teams.

“As Covid-19 puts concerts on pause, we want to extend a helping hand to the touring and venue crews who depend on shows to make a living”

Crew members are among the most affected by the coronavirus live event shutdown, with many working on a self-employed or freelance basis and unable to practise their profession from home, unlike more office-based workers.

Although governments including those in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia and the USA have put in financial measures to aid the self-employed, some say measures are not available soon enough and are not applicable in many cases.

Donations to Crew Nation can be made directly or through purchasing limited edition Crew Nation merchandise.

The fund is powered by charitable organisation Music Forward Foundation, which will select recipients of funding “based on an objective determination of need”. Live Nation employees are not eligible to receive funding.

Photo: Jorge Royan/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) (cropped)

 


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UK govt unveils plan for self-employed workers

UK chancellor Rishi Sunak today (26 March) announced a support package aimed at helping the country’s five million self-employed workers, in news that will likely be met with relief from the 72% of the UK music industry workforce who are self-employed.

The announcement comes after extensive lobbying from industry bodies representing touring crew, production staff and other live events freelancers facing financial difficulties as a result of coronavirus pandemic.

The chancellor said he knew self-employed people were “deeply concerned” by the risk of losing their livelihoods, making specific mention to musicians and sound engineers.

Sunak announced that self-employed people will have access to a taxable grant of 80% of their average monthly profit over the past three years, up to £2,500 a month for at least three months. The chancellor says the measures will cover 95% of the country’s self-employed workers.

“This is the same as the measures made available to furloughed employees,” said Sunak, making the scheme “one of the most generous in the world”.

“This provides an unprecedented level of support for self-employed people”

In order to ensure targeted support, the scheme is open to those with trading profits of up to £50,000 and only to those who make the majority of their earnings through self-employment. Access to the scheme will be available no later than the beginning of June.

As of today, self-employed people can also begin to access universal credit in full and the business interruption loan scheme, which was opened up for businesses last week.

A further measure allows those who missed the tax return deadline at the end of January four weeks from today to submit their returns.

“This provides an unprecedented level of support for self-employed people,” said Sunak.

The support package follows previous measures that have seen the government back £330 billion in guaranteed loans for businesses – although many companies that do not meet the lending criteria currently remain without access to these loans –, business rates exemption, cash grants and wage subsidies.

“The chancellor should outline interim financial help for the self-employed to help them survive until the support scheme kicks in”

UK Music acting CEO Tom Kiehl says the help will be “a vital lifeline to thousands in the music industry”.

“It is important the chancellor recognised in his remarks that musicians and sound engineers are among the many in our sector who have seen their work dry up and need support fast.

“We need immediate and urgent help for the self-employed. People need financial support now and cannot wait until June for the scheme to kick in or wait weeks for payments under universal credit.

“The chancellor should outline interim financial help for the self-employed to help them survive until the support scheme kicks in. He should make clear whether the support will be backdated.

“There remains a need for support for those in the music industry that have not been self-employed for very long, including recent graduates, who will not qualify for this grant.”

 


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‘We need help now’: Calls for support for freelancers

Industry bodies representing touring crew, production staff and other live events freelancers have called for immediate financial support for the sector, amid widespread loss of work and wages caused by the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

In the UK, recent research by Bectu (the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union), which represents more than 40,000 entertainment and media industry members, found nearly three quarters (71%) of freelancers working in the creative industries are afraid they won’t be able to pay their bills because of work lost due to coronavirus.

A survey of 5,600 people (which closed on Monday 16 March, before the British government advised against visiting entertainment venues while not enforcing their closure, in a move that attracted widespread criticism) additionally found that nearly 3,000 people (46%) had already lost money as a result of the virus, with 456 (15%) down more than £5,000.

“We have since had another update from the chancellor but still nothing for freelancers, the self-employed and those on zero-hours contracts,” comments Bectu head Philippa Childs. “These people have literally seen their income stream disappear in the space of a few days. They pay their taxes without fail, contribute to a thriving sector of the economy and don’t have the structure of an employer.”

In Germany, VPLT (the Association for Media and Event Technology) estimates that its members – mainly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – will have lost a collective €210 million in sales up to 30 June 2020, with that figure increasing to €480m through the end of the year.  Cancelled investments, meanwhile, total €32.6m through 31 December.

Belgium’s Febelux, which represents the conference and trade fair sector, says total loss to event suppliers in Belgium and Luxembourg due to Covid-19 will total €150m in the same period. For freelancers, “temporary unemployment can provide relief for some time, but not for long,” says Febelux chairman Emile De Cartier.

“What people don’t understand is that we need the money now”

When IQ spoke to VPLT’s commerce and international affairs spokesman, VPLT Randell Greenlee, yesterday (19 March) morning, he explained how German live industry freelancers, of which he estimates there are around a quarter of a million, were facing a financial “catastrophe” due to lost earnings.

“What people don’t understand is that we need help, we need the money now,” Greenlee said. “Not in a month, not in two months – we need it next week.”

“We’re a really sexy industry in some ways, but when it comes to asking for money it’s often a different story,” he added. “We’re very good at doing an awful lot with very people. People are compelled to work as much as they can to get the show on, and that can be difficult to explain [to governments].”

In Bavaria, he said, the state government is “already giving cash to small companies [and sole traders] to provide them with liquidity”, with other states thinking about introducing similar schemes. “That’s money that’s not going to come back but it will prevent people from being out on the street.”

Later the same day, German media reported the federal government is planning a €40 billion aid package for the self-employed, taking the form of €10bn worth of direct grants and €30bn in low-interest government-backed loans.

The programme would mark a change of approach for the German government, which would need to borrow to fund the initiative after years of running a budget surplus, reports the Spiegel. Further details of the fund are expected in the coming days.

In France, sole traders are eligible to receive a lump sum of €1,500

Government support is available in France, too, according to Synpase (the National Union of Providers of Audiovisual Services for the Stage and Events), with sole traders or businesses turning over less than €1m a year – or those who have suffered a drop in revenues of at least 70% due to Covid-19 – eligible to receive a lump sum of €1,500.

This indemnity will be financed by a ‘solidarity fund’ of €2bn a month, renewed monthly until the end of the crisis. Requests for funding should be made to the ministry of the economy (DGFiP), with minister Bruno Le Maire promising the system will be “simple and quick”.

In Belgium, the associations’ equivalent, the Belgian Event Supplier Association (BESA), has sent a letter to Nathalie Muylle, Belgian minister for employment, the economy and consumer affairs, and her counterparts in Wallonia, Willy Borsus, and Flanders, Hilde Crevits, asking for “concrete support” for its membership, which includes a substantial number of freelancers.

In partnership with sister associations ACC, Becas and Febelux, BESA has created a coronavirus ‘roadmap’ to update its members on the latest developments, including eight actions they say the Belgian government can take to mitigate the worst effects of the crisis.

These measures include the creation of an emergency fund, interest-free loans for businesses, an 80% discount on income tax, and an extension of the aid already provided to the catering sector (up to €4,000 for businesses which have had to close completely) to the live events industry.

While those in Britain wait for similar good news for freelancers, the trade association for the UK live event production industry, the Production Services Association (PSA), is stepping up: The organisation has created a continuously updated list of temporary work vacancies to support the sector’s “under-employed workforce”.

“Freelancers also have families to feed”

In an email to members and supporters, the PSA explains: “[We’ve] put together a simple page where we’re sharing any hints, tips, articles or links about temporary positions. It’s mainly about the food supply chain, from farm to shelf. Pick, lift, shift, stack, sell. Altogether, there are probably enough jobs for every freelancer in live events. If we got affected first, we should apply first.”

Emphasising that the current crisis “isn’t quite retirement; it’s a temporary removal of our purpose”, the association urges workers to “check yourself, take a moment, make sure you’re alright, then refocus on what you can do, what you can have an effect on. We’re protecting ourselves from a virus; we should also be protecting ourselves from a loss of purpose.”

Bectu, meanwhile, says it’s keeping up pressure on the British government to extend its support for business to freelance and casual workers. “The government can’t ignore them any longer,” says Childs. “Just like those who are employed and receive salaries, freelancers also have families to feed and must pay the bills to keep a roof over their heads.”

“The government must make sure any further protections put in place cover the entire economy’s workforce.”

 


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