Live music is a prime illustration of wider issues in the UK's cultural sector. Pressure on the public purse, nationally and locally, is felt from larger institutions - orchestras, opera companies, etc.- to the grassroots as direct funding dries up due to cuts. Meanwhile, live music has overtaken recorded sector revenues since 2008. Major events sell-out in hours and, as lobbying group UK Music's recent report on music tourism shows, the live sector is a significant source of income for the nation. Yet the benefits are felt unevenly, and not simply as a matter of suffering state subsidised arts and a healthy commercial sector. Growing concern for the fate of venues at the lower level of the economic activity is reflected in media and industry reports of struggles and closure. Neither is this just recession based. The key piece of music related legislation in recent times - the Live Music Act 2012 - deregulated the provision of live music of all kinds in licensed premises. But it was the result of a long campaign by industry, grassroots and legislators that arose from the negative impact of earlier licensing legislation in 2003 on venues and practitioners. Calls for more deregulation also involve both industry (UK Music) and musicians' (the Musicians' Union) representatives. Neither are music venues alone in their predicament. Questions of how to support culture hinge on assessments of how to value it - for economic benefit or innate social worth - and intersect with those about the role of the state and private vs public investment. Opposing speeches by UK Culture Secretary Maria Miller and Scottish Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop have starkly illustrated the lines between economic and intrinsic values as cases for investment. Implicit in wider debates and those around live music is a sense that different points on the scale of activity are interdependent. Today's stadium acts started in the pubs and local hotspots that are now struggling - in other words, an ecological model. Again, private and public sector inputs are not discrete but interdependent. Transport infrastructure, sensitive or draconian local licensing regimes, zoning and health and safety policies all affect local live music ecologies just as do direct investment from state, municipality or commerce. We will shed light on such interactions - the funding ecology - by examining them in context and practice in three case-study localities across the UK - the London Borough of Camden, Leeds and Glasgow. We will work with three key sector groups: PRS for Music, who license venues' use of copyright compositions, will provide data allowing us to map the size and types of venue in each area. With UK Music and the Musicians' Union (MU), we will then select case studies of venue capacities in six categories: Small (Under 200 capacity); Small-Medium (200-500); Medium (500-2,000); Medium-Large (2,000-5,000); Large (5,000-20,000); Very Large (20,000+). Interviews with local and national policy makers, council officers, regional MU representatives, and venue operators will, along with the mapping exercise, show how the interplay of regulation, finance, ownership and management structures produce and reflect conceptions of cultural value in theory and in practice across the live music venue ecology. The ecological model of music venues in the context of investment and stakeholder activity will both broaden and sharpen our understanding of the sector. It will account for the narratives of public and private actors in shaping the environment in which musical careers proceed as an interdependent system of different levels of economic activity. The effects of local and national regulation, alongside various forms of direct subsidy and indirect support (or hindrance), are felt in ways both obvious and hidden. We will illuminate this system to provide insights into live music, and cultural activity at large, for policy makers, industry and practitioners alike.

Live music is popular across the UK, and has become increasingly important to the music industries, overtaking recording revenues in 2008. Yet recent years have been difficult for venues. These challenges are felt particularly keenly by the smaller venues, clubs and pubs which provide for local musicians and audiences, and which serve as the training ground for future headline acts. There is widespread interest in the live music sector, and there have been numerous reports assessing its value produced by industry organisations, policy bodies and the third sector. Nevertheless, there is still a knowledge gap about the specific relationship between the value of live music on the one hand and current challenges facing venues across the UK on the other. Accounts of live music activity vary according to where they have been produced and according to which type of policy, industry or academic research has provided them. For instance, reports by The Scottish Household Survey, City of Edinburgh Council, Department of Media Culture and Sport, as well as those that industry bodies have commissioned, use both different definitions and parameters for what counts as live music activity. They often conflate live music with other performance activities (like theatre) or musical sources of revenue (like recording or publishing). This variation can make it difficult to make meaningful comparisons across cities, and between different types of music. It also means that the full range of settings in which live music takes place is not always properly captured by work which has a specific industry or policy focus. Our project will address these issues directly. The Great British Live Music Census will be a collaboration between music industry organisations, policy bodies and leading academic live music researchers. Working with key personnel in the live music sector, and building on the project team's pilot study of a census of live music in Edinburgh, we will provide the first account of live music in the UK that covers the full range of venues and that includes all types of musical activity - from amateur to top-flight professional. In conjunction with industry personnel and policymakers, our team will develop a toolkit for conducting a snapshot census of live music in three cities (Glasgow, Newcastle and Oxford) and share it with other institutions so that they can conduct parallel snapshots across the country. With project partners UK Music, the Musicians' Union and the Music Venue Trust, we will also survey musicians, venues and audience members nationwide to provide the most comprehensive dataset yet of live music in the country. Our prior research shows that different local government responses to cultural activity and venue licensing can have a profound effect on live music provision, but also that it is difficult for policymakers to make informed decisions given the variety of different definitions and parameters used in the available evidence. By bringing together industry bodies, policymakers and academics to formulate the questions and promote the surveys, this project will assist researchers, policymakers and industry alike, providing consensus on an academically rigorous methodology and subsequent dataset for assessing the scope and value of live music in the UK. This will be a large step forward for all concerned in working to safeguard and develop the cultural and economic wellbeing of this most valuable component of local character in cities and localities across the country.

Live music is popular across the UK, and has become increasingly important to the music industries, overtaking recording revenues in 2008. Yet recent years have been difficult for venues. These challenges are felt particularly keenly by the smaller venues, clubs and pubs which provide for local musicians and audiences, and which serve as the training ground for future headline acts. There is widespread interest in the live music sector, and there have been numerous reports assessing its value produced by industry organisations, policy bodies and the third sector. Nevertheless, there is still a knowledge gap about the specific relationship between the value of live music on the one hand and current challenges facing venues across the UK on the other. Accounts of live music activity vary according to where they have been produced and according to which type of policy, industry or academic research has provided them. For instance, reports by The Scottish Household Survey, City of Edinburgh Council, Department of Media Culture and Sport, as well as those that industry bodies have commissioned, use both different definitions and parameters for what counts as live music activity. They often conflate live music with other performance activities (like theatre) or musical sources of revenue (like recording or publishing). This variation can make it difficult to make meaningful comparisons across cities, and between different types of music. It also means that the full range of settings in which live music takes place is not always properly captured by work which has a specific industry or policy focus. Our project will address these issues directly. The Great British Live Music Census will be a collaboration between music industry organisations, policy bodies and leading academic live music researchers. Working with key personnel in the live music sector, and building on the project team's pilot study of a census of live music in Edinburgh, we will provide the first account of live music in the UK that covers the full range of venues and that includes all types of musical activity - from amateur to top-flight professional. In conjunction with industry personnel and policymakers, our team will develop a toolkit for conducting a snapshot census of live music in three cities (Glasgow, Newcastle and Oxford) and share it with other institutions so that they can conduct parallel snapshots across the country. With project partners UK Music, the Musicians' Union and the Music Venue Trust, we will also survey musicians, venues and audience members nationwide to provide the most comprehensive dataset yet of live music in the country. Our prior research shows that different local government responses to cultural activity and venue licensing can have a profound effect on live music provision, but also that it is difficult for policymakers to make informed decisions given the variety of different definitions and parameters used in the available evidence. By bringing together industry bodies, policymakers and academics to formulate the questions and promote the surveys, this project will assist researchers, policymakers and industry alike, providing consensus on an academically rigorous methodology and subsequent dataset for assessing the scope and value of live music in the UK. This will be a large step forward for all concerned in working to safeguard and develop the cultural and economic wellbeing of this most valuable component of local character in cities and localities across the country.

Few pursuits are as dynamic and enjoyable as making music. Each day, thousands of people in the UK engage in some sort of musical activity. Central to these endeavours is good health. Physical and mental wellbeing can shape how musicians, from beginners to professionals, pursue their art and the pleasure they take from it. The results of recent research, however, suggest that injury and ill health are widespread among musicians and that healthy approaches to training and working in music are far from uniform. This project investigates the health and wellbeing of musicians. In doing so, it generates new knowledge of the physical and mental demands of music making and sheds light on the ways in which musicians at all levels meet those demands, both constructively and destructively. While musicians typically have a long history of self-sufficiency in managing the challenges of performing, this project aims to complement musicians' own ingenuity by providing comprehensive, evidence-led resources to help maximise educational and professional opportunities. Musical Impact is a project of Conservatoires UK (CUK), in association with Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Association of British Orchestras (ABO), British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM), the Musicians' Union, and the International Health Humanities Network (IHHN). Musical Impact operates through three interrelated work packages (WPs). WP1 comprises a four-year study of musicians' physical and mental fitness for performance. While previous research has largely looked at cross-sections of musicians, WP1 takes the form of a large-scale longitudinal study with conservatoire students, staff and alumni, seeking to understand the incidence, extent and development of injuries and ill-health among British musicians. WP1 employs standardized measures of health promotion, anxiety, perfectionism, cardiovascular fitness and physical strength and flexibility, complemented by qualitative exploration of the cultures of musicians' health. WP2 places practice and performance under investigation, documenting their physical and mental demands and the characteristics of musicians who successfully meet those demands. Physiological and biomechanical assessments will be made during the practice and performance of musicians, including the recording and analysis of muscle activity using electromyography and the monitoring of energy expenditure with portable gas analysers. WP3 builds upon WPs 1 and 2, exploring health promotion in music education and the profession and exploring practical applications to enhance training and support services. WP3 includes the development of two programmes of health promotion: one for junior conservatoire students and one for senior conservatoire students. These programmes will be piloted and evaluated through case studies, a questionnaire survey and interviews, before being delivered in full at junior- and senior-programmes across all CUK conservatoires. Musical Impact is the largest research initiative of its kind worldwide. It moves beyond existing research to contribute needed insight into chronic and acute health problems and their impact over time (WP1), the physical and mental demands of music making (WP2), and effective strategies for health promotion (WP3). The project's outcomes will be delivered through a combination of scholarly outputs (including an edited book), six workshops held for music teachers and students, and two freely-available resource packs.

Live performances are a vital income source for over 80% of musicians.[1] The COVID19 lockdown put a temporary stop to performances in concert venues, while social distancing measures are likely to restrict audiences for months to come, with regular attenders deciding to stay at home and venues having to reduce capacity to adhere to government regulations. The result is a severe loss of income for musicians. Lockdown saw a number of musicians turn to streaming performances live from their homes and some continue to do so. However, while having the potential to make up for loss of earnings from other sources, these live streams are rarely being monetised. A shift in thinking about the value of live streaming performances needs to be instigated. Musicians expect adequate remuneration for the streaming of recordings (on platforms such as Spotify) and attach high value to live performances in physical spaces. Live performances in the digital sphere, however, do not, as yet, seem to carry such value for musicians. COVID19 has the potential to be the catalyst for 'creative destruction', bringing into question traditional music industry business models while offering new ones. This research project will investigate optimum ways of monetising live streamed performances. The outcome of the research is an Open Access report for musicians, featuring best practice guidelines and focusing on the staging of virtual concerts; technical requirements; streaming platforms; methods of generating income; collaborations with venues; and online audience engagement. The report will equip musicians with knowledge that they need to quickly and efficiently access new income sources from live streaming performances. Key findings from the report will be disseminated to over 50,000 UK musicians by the project's partner organisations, including the Musicians' Union, the Incorporated Society of Musicians, and the Music Venue Trust, while the full report will be downloadable from a project-specific website. [1] Musicians' Union, The Working Musician report, 2012