Live streams are exempt from English lockdown laws
Venues hosting concerts for live streams are considered places of work and able to go ahead with no on-site audience
The new lockdown measures that came into place in England yesterday, November 5, do not affect live streamed concerts and music sets.
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MP Oliver Dowden, the secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sports (DCMS), explained the exemption in a thread on Twitter, writing: “Can arts venues open for rehearsals and to stream performances? Yes. Arts venues are places of work, so people can come into them for work, if it cannot be undertaken from home. This includes rehearsals and performance. Audiences are not permitted.”
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— Oliver Dowden (@OliverDowden) November 2, 2020
Q: Can arts venues open for rehearsals and to stream performances?
A: Yes. Arts venues are places of work, so people can come into them for work, if it cannot be undertaken from home. This includes rehearsals and performance. Audiences are not permitted.
Speaking about the exemption to IQ, ATC Management’s Ric Salmon, the CEO of concert streaming specialist Driift, said: “[I’m] delighted livestreaming has an exemption … Given the disruption everyone’s currently facing elsewhere, it’s absolutely crucial that artists, musicians, crew and all in the wider music sector can still have this outlet for work, and we can keep building what is proving to be a vibrant and long-term business that audiences love.”
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Mixmag will continue to broadcast behind-closed-doors Lab LDN streams during lockdown, including the Nervous Horizon takeover with Ehua, object blue, TSVI & Wallwork today, November 6.
Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Features Editor, follow him on Twitter
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