SAVE OUR MUSIC INDUSTRY: PRS FOR MUSIC HOSTS VIRTUAL GIG TO SUPPORT AND CELEBRATE MUSIC CREATORS

By Rishma • On What is New

Song­writers and com­posers are at the heart of the music we listen to. As a nation we are turn­ing to music, wheth­er on the radio, online, or revis­it­ing our vinyl col­lec­tions, to get us through this time of isol­a­tion – but the music industry is suf­fer­ing. As one of the most heav­ily impacted sec­tors from the glob­al coronavir­us pan­dem­ic, music cre­at­ors are fall­ing through gaps of Gov­ern­ment fund­ing and live­li­hoods are being lost, pos­ing an increas­ingly real threat to the future of UK music as we know it.

From mid­day (BST) on Fri­day 24 April, artists from across the globe/UK will come togeth­er — vir­tu­ally – for PRS Presents LCK­DWN, a one-off event cel­eb­rat­ing the spe­cial role music plays in our lives, the pos­it­ive impact it has and, import­antly, the cre­at­ors behind the music.

Hos­ted in aid of the PRS Emer­gency Relief Fund launched expressly to help song­writers and com­posers facing sig­ni­fic­ant fin­an­cial hard­ship as we con­tin­ue to battle the vir­us, PRS Presents LCK­DWN will pay trib­ute to the song­writers and com­posers get­ting us through this dif­fi­cult time.

Black Futures, Joy Crookes, Katie Melua, KT Tun­stall, Linda Perry, Nadia Rose and Nitin Sawhney are amongst the stel­lar line-up of eclect­ic music cre­at­ors who will per­form from their home stu­di­os, liv­ing rooms and kit­chens to sup­port this cause, with more to be announced this week.

Coronavir­us has brought most parts of the music industry to a stand­still. With no live per­form­ances and busi­nesses closed, its impact has seen many music cre­at­ors facing severe fin­an­cial hardship.

The live music industry, which is the main income for most music cre­at­ors, has hal­ted entirely, from arena-sized tours and fest­ivals, to gigs at inde­pend­ent grass­root ven­ues. With no reas­sur­ance as to when the live industry will be able to return, the long-term effects on rev­en­ue could be challenging.

Many pro­fes­sion­al song­writers earn less than min­im­um wage and with an estim­ated 72% of the music industry self-employed, there is an urgent need to ensure that sup­port is avail­able to all those that need it.

A col­lab­or­a­tion between PRS Found­a­tion, PRS Mem­bers’ Fund and PRS for Music, the PRS Emer­gency Fund launched in March and has helped over 3000 song­writers and com­posers with fin­an­cial sup­port so far.

The new fund exists to help PRS mem­bers all around the world who are facing imme­di­ate hard­ship due to the impact of Cov­id-19 and is awar­ded based on cri­ter­ia and assess­ment of indi­vidu­al need.

 Andrea C. Mar­tin, CEO, PRS for Music, said: “We have seen first-hand the dif­fer­ence the PRS Emer­gency Relief Fund has made and I would like to sin­cerely thank every­one who has donated so far. PRS Presents LCK­DWN is a way for us to col­lect­ively cel­eb­rate music cre­at­ors, to sup­port our industry as a united com­munity and to cham­pi­on the music lift­ing spir­its and get­ting us all through this chal­len­ging time.”

 Musi­cian, pro­du­cer and com­poser, Nitin Sawhney CBE, said: “I am hon­oured to be per­form­ing in sup­port of all musi­cians and the essen­tial work of PRS for Music dur­ing this dif­fi­cult time. My set fea­tures three oth­er key mem­bers of my band, Nicki Wells, YVA and Anna Phoebe and we will be per­form­ing mater­i­al from across my past albums. Thanks for watching!”

 PRS for Music rep­res­ents the rights of over 145,500 song­writers, com­posers and music pub­lish­ers around the world.

For more inform­a­tion about the PRS Emer­gency Relief Fund, vis­it: prsformusic.com/c/emergency-relief-fund

Tune into PRS Presents LCK­DWN on Fri­day 24 April, from mid­day, at: prsformusic.com/lckdwn

 

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Rishma

Edit­or / PR Con­sult­ant at No Bounds
Rishma Dhali­w­al has extens­ive exper­i­ence study­ing and work­ing in the music and media industry. Hav­ing writ­ten a thes­is on how Hip Hop acts as a social move­ment, she has spent years research­ing and con­nect­ing with artists who use the art form as a tool for bring­ing a voice to the voiceless.

About Rishma

Rishma Dhaliwal has extensive experience studying and working in the music and media industry. Having written a thesis on how Hip Hop acts as a social movement, she has spent years researching and connecting with artists who use the art form as a tool for bringing a voice to the voiceless.