Ben Bradshaw: Working for the weekend
This weekend I am heading off to Suffolk for Latitude. It will not be my first visit to a music festival - for the last few years I have been going to The Big Chill - but it will be my first as Culture Secretary. So arguably this is a working weekend, although soaking up the best of British music, arts and culture will be a thoroughly enjoyable experience
My department supports a hugely diverse range of cultural endeavours. In recent years we have worked hard to ensure the creative industries sit in their rightful place at the heart of our society and the economy. We want to give these vital sectors as much practical support as possible and I hope we are succeeding.
This weekend will be a chance to bring together two of my passions - music and environmental issues. I am a huge music fan and can't wait to see Grace Jones perform. But as a former Environment Minister, green issues are also very important to me.
The festival market has boomed in recent years and I am gratified that measures to make festivals sustainable and reduce their carbon footprint have become increasingly important, to both organisers and audiences.
Latitude, like many music festivals, has always championed green issues. It has some eye-catching initiatives, such as the reusable beer cups with a pounds 2 deposit to stop many thousands of plastic cups ending up in landfill. Campsite lighting is powered by waste vegetable oil biodiesel, and the profit from all bottled water sold on site goes towards providing clean drinking water pumps in Africa. They are taking sustainability further this year when they pioneer the new Industry Green (IG) initiative set up by Julie's Bicycle, the not-for-profit company which aims to reduce CO2 emissions across the music and entertainment industries.
To win its IG status, Latitude will be measuring and publishing its climate impacts and finding ways to reduce them. If successful, next year they will be the first major festival to display the IG logo, a major achievement. Wood and Truck festivals are also piloting this initiative, as is Glyndebourne, and PRS for Music and others in the industry are working closely with Julie's Bicycle to find ways of reducing their carbon footprint.
Festivals including Glastonbury, Big Green Gathering, Isle of Wight, Waveform, Sunrise and T in the Park have taken on the problems posed by climate change in a multitude of imaginative ways. In fact, it is hard to find a festival that is not addressing climate change. This sets an important and exciting precedent for the creative industries.
But audiences have a key role to play too. The biggest contributor to greenhouse gases is audience travel. Julie's Bicycle estimates that last year, 60% of cars travelling to festivals had two or fewer people in them. More use of public transport, car share schemes and a bit of mindful planning ahead could make a big difference. Audiences can also do their bit making good use of recycling facilities and looking after festival sites, many of which will be returned to farm use once the music has finished.
It is important as a Government that we support the music industry in its social role, as well as supporting it economically, to make sure we stay ahead of the world as a creative music force.
The seemingly evergreen summer festival season is continuing evidence of the booming live music scene in the UK. The appearance of Grace Jones at Latitude, Bruce Springsteen at Glastonbury and the never-ending roster of global superstars visiting the UK shows how important the our market is on the global stage. Of course, our home- grown talent makes a huge contribution to the international music business and we continue to produce some of the most critically and commercially successful acts in the world. But I am very conscious there are continuing threats to the economic wellbeing of the wider industry, including, of course, the livelihoods of musicians and performers.
I am committed to helping the music industry achieve sustainable business models and the recent Digital Britain report made clear our determination to tackle unlawful peer-to-peer filesharing. I also want to ensure the next generation of talent has the best possible start, and we can help by making sure young people heading for a career in the music industry come armed with the skills they and their employers need. Earlier this year the first Department for Culture, Media and Sport-funded community rehearsal space opened in Liverpool, and in the coming months we and UK Music will be opening rehearsal spaces in Bristol, Cornwall, Norfolk, the Sussex coast and elsewhere. These may well provide a route into the profession for young people from deprived communities; apprenticeships are another important way into the industry.
In October we will host the first meeting of the Creative and Business International Network (C&binet). One key focus of this summit for the creative industries will be about international action on copyright protection. The global content industry leaders and policymakers attending this summit will also be exploring how to commercialise and facilitate investment in creative content. The music industry will play a vital role in these discussions. I am sure you will be hearing from me about these issues and more in the coming months.
I am very glad to have taken over responsibility in Government for an industry that not only gives so much to so many people, but also appears to be doing some good work understanding its environmental responsibilities and acting on them.
I am thrilled to be supporting the music industry at the heart of Government and look forward to enjoying some of the UK's finest acts this weekend.
Ben Bradshaw, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Copyright: UBM Information Ltd. (c) 2009 Music Week.
