Is there really a problem?
While music may be the food of love, unfortunately, the public requires real consistent nourishment. Due to the cost-of-living crisis, people are frequenting food banks rather than NatWest. Understandably, it’s proving hard for local bands to play when people no longer carry cash to see them in concert.
But is this necessarily the worst thing? Seeing Oasis live in concert doesn’t appear in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, yet among younger people, attending gigs is seemingly a non-negotiable. I, for one, feel sorry for therapists who gain a degree in listening to people complain for hours on end, only to hear “Taylor Swift saved my life” from their clientele.
On the other hand, all work and no play made Jack Torrance a psychopath. We need arts venues and the joy they bring to stay sane after working a nine-to-five. Disappointingly, Labour Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced plans to cut the budget allocated to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport by 2.5% in her statement on the 30th of October. Young people can’t even play their tiny violins of despair anymore, since music lessons have been cut from schools over the last decade.
Facts and Figures
This statement comes after a decade of steadily decreasing public funding for the cultural sector, with aid for UK arts organisations falling by 18% between 2010 and 2023. A 2024 report by the Campaign for the Arts and the University of Warwick found that government spending on culture in the UK is poor compared to other European countries. While they found that the National Lottery funding for arts projects increased by 19% between 2010 and 2023c, they noted the considerable fluctuations over the decade and the negative impact of the pandemic. Additionally, the BBC’s total funding decreased by 23%.
Several organisations and individuals involved in the arts have responded to the new budget. Although The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) acknowledged the difficult decisions the government had to make to “balance a range of competing and urgent demands”, they argued that 40% of venues are at risk of closure over the next five years due to the cuts.
Andy Haldane, chief executive of the Royal Society for Arts and former chief economist at the Bank of England, echoed SOLT’s comments, claiming that Reeves should fund projects that “make lives live-able” and support deprived areas. He argued that the government should look to the Millennium Commission, which provided £2bn to many arts and culture establishments for inspiration.
Furthermore, Kwame Kwei-Armah, the artistic director of the Young Vic, argued that diversity in the industry will regress if the government fails to urgently improve the provision of drama and art classes in secondary schools. Speaking to The Guardian, he stated that without this, “we may be having the same debate around class and race again in 10 years’ time.”
Are we past all hope?
Yet it is important to note that all hope is not lost. Labour plans to invest £3m to expand the Creative Careers Programme and, as of 14 November, it is the official government policy that every ticket sold at an arena or stadium should contain a financial contribution that supports grassroots music venues, artists and promoters.
Although if Brighton Pryzm ends up shutting for good following the ongoing building works, I wouldn’t have any complaints.
Another article you may enjoy: Are Jukebox Musicals Hitting All the Right Notes?