UK government sued by music industry to publish pilot events data

On Thursday, June 24, music industry body LIVE and several other groups clubbed together to take legal action against the government in an effort to force a release of the latest Events Research Programme (ERP) results.

The associations included were Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group, and theatre producers Cameron Mackintosh, Michael Harrison and Sonia Friedman.

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In response to the government’s restriction pushbacks and mounting frustration over the toll that the new roadmap has had on the music industry, the groups suing said in a media release the events which have taken place show “with proper precautions in place, live events at full capacity can go ahead safely.”

They also said that the government had chosen "to keep the live entertainment industry under severe restrictions from June 21, while allowing parts of the economy that have not been subject to similar scientific studies, including hospitality, public transport and retail, to operate.”

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A string of events has run over the past few months as part of The Events Research Programme, testing the ability to return to nightlife and mass events by studying transmission risks. Events have included a 5,000 capacity festival in Liverpool, 10,000 capacity Download festival, and some sports events.

On Friday, June 25, the released ERP results revealed that just 28 people who attended these events tested positive in the following weeks. This study came from testing 58,000 people who attended the first nine pilot events.

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“Finally, the Event Research Programme Report that the government has been holding back for weeks has been released. We are being marginalised by a government that has no regard or value for our sector, we have businesses suffering, peoples livelihoods destroyed and youth culture excluded,” said NTIA’s CEO, Michael Kill.

As a result of the released studies, the music industry sector is demanding that the government opens the doors to nightlife before July 19. CEO of LIVE Greg Parmley stated, “it is incredibly disappointing that it took the live music and the theatre industry launching legal action yesterday to force them to do so.”

Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter