According to reports, the European Commission has said that “such a deal is impossible because it would require rewriting the EU-UK Trade And Cooperation Agreement”, as well as making changes to EU rules on customs, road haulage and services.”

Despite individual countries tweaking their visa policies post-Brexit, artists are still grappling with hefty costs and bureaucratic obstacles. The challenges span from securing cultural performance Visas to obtaining transport permits for their gear.

In theory, 21 European countries allow some form of Visa-free touring for UK artists, time windows for touring are limited to at most 90 days touring every six months. Certain countries have implemented their own particular restrictions, for example France requiring musicians to be employed by a registered venue.

“There remains uncertainty and possibly a need for bilateral deals with six other member states in relation to work permits for musicians and performers for any commercial music performance or artists and crew face costly and time-consuming visa and work permit applications,” advocacy group UK Music says.

Labour must do everything they can do ensure the music industry isn’t left behind in the wake of Brexit.https://t.co/L4S2UQBOwj

— European Movement UK (@euromove) September 4, 2024

European Movement UK runs a campaign  called Face The Music, which urges the government to address the plight of musicians and other artists trying to work and tour in the EU. Labour pledged back in May before coming to power that it would work to fix the “European touring crisis”, by negotiating, ‘an agreement on touring visas’.

Dr Mike Galsworthy, Chair of European Movement UK, said: “ We really need him to be more ambitious on this front and open up conversations about mobility in general, which is what the British public want to see.”

“Remember, it’s not just musicians, it’s theatre groups, fashion photographers, dancers, comedians and British culture in all of its wonderful dimensions. Brexit has boxed them in and it’s time to tear down these walls,” he added.

In July, the Musician’s Union conducted a survey of 200 artists who had previously performed in the EU, in which 75% polled musicians reported that their bookings in the EU had declined, while 59% said that touring in the EU was no longer financially viable  54% of artist who said their merchandise sales had been affected, as well as13% of respondents who experienced all or part of their fees being withheld due to complications in connection with tax and national insurance.

“Although over half of surveyed musicians told us that touring the EU was no longer financially viable for them, we have been working with the new Labour Government to address the concerns raised, and are hopeful that the barriers can be addressed,” the Musician’s Union said in July.

UK Music Chief Executive @jnjokugoodwin departs after three years at helm to join Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as Director of Strategy.

Read here: https://t.co/JfsM4dRZBd pic.twitter.com/Bqg7Nx710N

— UK Music (@UK_Music) August 31, 2023

Njoku-Goodwin was named CEO of UK Music, a trade body that represents the collective interests of the UK music industry, back in 2020 and was perhaps most notable for steering the industry through the Covid-19 pandemic-helping to secure the safe return of live performances throughout the country. He was also instrumental in creating the National Plan for Music Education and leading the arguments on copyright protection for artists in light of the continuing emergence of Artificial Intelligence.

Speaking of his role as CEO, Njoku-Goodwin said, “the UK music industry is one of this country’s great national assets and it’s been a privilege to represent it for the past three years. Leading UK Music through what was the toughest of times for our sector during the pandemic, when the music industry faced an existential struggle, has been an immense honour.”

A very welcome recommendation from @cj_dinenage & @CommonsCMS. It’s vital that we ensure AI enables human artistry and creativity, not erode it. So strong copyright & IP protections must at the heart of any approach to seize the opportunities of AI. https://t.co/W2Nolh8NtY — Jamie Njoku-Goodwin (@jnjokugoodwin) August 30, 2023

Njoku-Goodwin expressed his belief that the music industry is now in a much better place than it was when he first came into the role, confident that he has now provided a road map on how the industry can continue to thrive in a post-Brexit UK and with modern challenges that continue to impact musicians and stakeholders.

“I think the pandemic probably had a big impact in terms of making people realise how much they missed it.”

UK Music Chief Executive @jnjokugoodwin in the @guardian discussing the demand for big-name tickets.

Read: https://t.co/sYqrr7VuOA pic.twitter.com/jaKq6mIWZZ

— UK Music (@UK_Music) August 19, 2023

Njoku-Goodwin previously welcomed the European Union Brexit Trade Deal that provided points on travel-a key concern for British based touring artists, while also expressing some concerns that continued bureaucracy and delays would put tours at risk, adding further uncertainty for musicians performing on the continent. The ex-CEO said at the time of the deal, “the Prime Minister has promised there will be no non-tariff barriers, so it is vital that Government delivers on this promise and ensures there are no barriers to British musicians working and touring through Europe. We will be seeking urgent reassurances on this from Government.”

Njoku-Goodwin’s role in the National Plan for Music Education will see the government commit to enabling children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and have the opportunity to further their interests in the music industry, including professionally. The plan also sets out how music education would look in schools, allowing students the chance to take music qualifications during their secondary education, such as GCSEs and A Levels.

V welcome to see @Keir_Starmer talk about the importance of music education and creativity – not only for supporting the talent pipeline, but for developing the skills we all need in the modern workplace. Every young person should have access to a high quality music education https://t.co/P4dod1xjmD — Jamie Njoku-Goodwin (@jnjokugoodwin) July 12, 2023

Njoku-Goodwin was thanked by various members of UK Music, following the news of his stepping down. UK Music deputy chief executive Tom Kiehl has been named CEO in the interim.

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A post shared by Animal Collective (@anmlcollective)

Set to begin this November, the group’s 6 date UK tour – and then extensive European leg – was announced in the later months of last year. But now all these careful plans have been torn down, in summary, due to “Inflation, currency devaluation, bloated shipping and transportation costs”. The band released a statement to their Instagram explaining the situation: “Friends, we are absolutely gutted to announce today that we are making the decision to cancel our UK/EU dates for this November. We love playing music for you and truly wish we could be there.”

The post then takes a more sombre tone: “It has been a wild year for us trying to push through a mountain of touring obstacles related to COVID and the economy. Three of us got bad cases of Covid. We were forced to cancel shows and lost large amounts of the income that sustains us and our families. But preparing for this tour we were looking at an economic reality that simply does not work and is not sustainable.”

The obvious levels of sheer disappointment then come with the band’s explanation for the newfound costs of touring: “From inflation to currency devaluation, to bloated shipping and transportation costs, and much much more, we simply could not make a budget for this tour that did not lose money even if everything went as well as it could. We have always been the kind of people to persevere through the difficult times and get on stage unless our health prevented it. We are choosing not to take the risk to our mental and physical health with the economic reality of what that tour would have been. We hope you understand and that you know we would not make a choice like this lightly.”

 This summary seems to me like very bad news. Animal Collective may not be a household name these days, but they still have an undying fanbase all around the world after the huge success of their older projects like Merriweather Post Pavilion, or even Strawberry Jam. But now, they don’t have the funds to make it across the Atlantic. Consider for a moment a band in today’s day and age, with a new album that launches their career in the same way as Merriweather did for AN CO. Would we even get the chance to see them? Or will they just end up slipping through the cracks… this is bad news.

BFB stated yesterday (the 21^st of July) that the number of British artists set to perform in Europe for this year’s festival season has decreased by 45 per cent when compared to 2017-2019 (pre-Brexit). The incursions largely being down to a lack of visa-free travel and work permits that are applicable across Europe for musicians and crew. Artists attempting to set out on tour once again after Covid have found themselves tangled in the red tape created by Brexit.

The CEO of Best For Britain, Naomi Smith broke down the meaning behind their discovery; “The Beatles famously made their name in Europe and it’s on tour that many musicians gain the formative experiences and audiences they need to take off. With their dud Brexit deal, our lame duck Government has not only robbed emerging British talent of these opportunities abroad, but has also made international acts think twice before including Glasgow or London in their European tours.”

Deborah Annetts, The Chief Executive of the Incorporated Society of Musicians and UK Trade and Business Commissioner, stated; “Previous witnesses to our commission have described how, if you’re a festival organiser in Barcelona who needs to fill a last-minute slot, British bands will be at the bottom of your list due to new barriers created by this botched Brexit deal. Whoever ends up replacing Boris Johnson must commit to removing this needless bureaucracy which is stifling the prosperity and creativity of the next generation of British musicians.”

The Ealing-born band White Lies are a prime example of the toll Brexit is taking on acts and artists in the UK. As they were forced to cancel their 2022 European tour in Paris in April 2022, with their equipment being held for 2 days after issues with; “Brexit legislation”.

Jack Lawrence- Brown, the band’s drummer elaborated on the situation; “We’d done our best to ensure that we’d be prepared in any circumstance. It’s very frustrating when you prepare for as long as we have to then rock up to the first venue and find that your equipment has been stuck in a 25-mile-long queue on the M20 through no fault of your own, and no fault of the trucking company either. It wasn’t the plan that we’d worked hard to get right.”

Grant Schapps, the UK’s Transport Secretary, revealed plans for a dual registration system that will lift the previous limit of three EU stops in a tour for equipment hauliers. When the plans come into action, hauliers will be allowed to stop as many times as they need for six months a year.

Schapps said of the situation that “It is unacceptable that, because of EU bureaucracy, the operations of our specialist haulage sector on which our artists rely have been put at risk, impacting the livelihoods of touring artists and sportspeople. Dual registration helps put this right and means that touring events can take place seamlessly across Great Britain, the EU and beyond, keeping our incredible cultural sector thriving for years to come.”

From music artists to Formula 1, Britain is at the heart of the cultural business. Today I have announced a new ‘dual registration’ option for specialist hauliers to ensure that all British talent can freely tour between Great Britain and the EU #LetTheMusicMove.

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) May 6, 2022

It’s an encouraging sign that the government is listening to the music sector, with Whole Entertainment manager Ross Patel saying back in January that it was “depressingly apparent that the government will not act until we as an industry raise the alarm on these issues.”

It’s not been a fun time for musicians as of late with all the restrictions. London post-punk group White Lies recently had to cancel a show in France due to not being able to get all the equipment there on time. The band’s drummer, Jack Lawrence-Brown, noted that despite having “everything fully in order“, they “still found [themselves] in a situation where – because of Brexit – there are these inhumane motorway queues“. He blamed it on “Brexit fuck-ups and essentially a lack of government control over what’s happening in Dover.”

Tonight’s show can’t go ahead, even though we are in Paris. We are so gutted to announce this. News on rescheduling ASAP. Details below. pic.twitter.com/YDqJKjeJCJ — White Lies (@whiteliesmusic) April 7, 2022

Despite the apparently good news, some still believe there’s a way to go before the situation is under control. Duran Duran and Sam Smith touring manager Wob Roberts argues that the new regulations will be less beneficial to smaller artists who lack hubs in Europe. Although “UK-based tours [will] keep going“, Roberts says that artists who can’t “afford to set up a European arm are still going to be facing the same issues”.

So there you have it. Good news for many, but perhaps slightly less helpful for others. On the bright side, it’s one of many signs that live music is starting to heal after the disruption of the past few years. You can read here about how the damage from the pandemic has already started to resolve itself as of late.

This isn’t the first time that the innate lack of progress from the Tories has been highlighted either, Elton John led the charge in August after we were informed by the Department of Culture, Media & Sport that short term visas would be allowed in 19 EU countries. John said that the excitement of the announcement “quickly turned to disappointment” after the details confirmed the news was in fact too good to be true. Severe restrictions are still in place for almost all of them.

Read my thoughts on the recent announcement from @dcms pic.twitter.com/auWJ2eMI3v

— Elton John (@eltonofficial) August 5, 2021

Another letter, this time from the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM), a society representing the working rights of over 11,000 musicians, was sent to Ms Truss. This time asking her to change the whole approach for the Brexit negotiations before the COVID-19 restrictions are all removed and musicians can get back to doing what they do best, performing. Deborah Annetts, the society’s chief executive, warns, “The sector is now facing mountains of red tape, which is both costly and time-consuming,” adding, “The proposed solutions such as bilateral agreements with EU states have not materialised, apart from with Spain, and there are serious issues with cabotage, carnets and designated ports. All these issues are adversely impacting the UK music industry and the broader creative industries, which is worth £116bn per annum, the same as finance or construction.”

Lord Kinnoull, chair of the Lords Committee said: “The creative sector is important not just to the economies of the UK and other countries concerned but also the enjoyment and wellbeing of people. It is important that the government rebuild trust with the creative industries and provide the support they need to adjust to the post-Brexit era.”

So far, however, all of these pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

Squid’s tour manager Ina Tatarko explained to the publication how the frighteningly high costs of attaining visas for the group to play in Spain has meant that they have had to pull out of impending Spanish shows later this month. She stated: “With the current visa requirements for Spain, which are basically saying that you have to pay for a work visa for £409 per person, we weren’t able to play these smaller shows because it wouldn’t have been financially feasible.”

Spanish music festival Primavera Sound were promoting Black Country New Road and Squid’s upcoming shows, and on September 23^rd, stated: “In a very delicate climate due to the COVID crisis, with promoters who have been unable to programme for the last two years and bands unable to tour internationally for the same amount of time, these costs could be the final blow for an industry on which technical teams, venues and festivals depend, as well as of course the artists from one of the countries with a huge presence on our stages.”

The reality of Brexit-especially for the UK music industry- is a very unfortunate one, particularly in regard to touring groups. As the advent of Brexit crept up in 2020, many UK groups and artists began voicing their concerns about the impact Brexit would have on touring. One issue that rose above the rest was the worrying thought of additional expenses, paperwork and the time that would go into acquiring Visas, and the challenge of shipping equipment and merchandise over to mainland Europe. Whilst around 19 EU countries have reached an agreement with the UK to supply free 90 day work visas, it seems that this issue is sadly rearing its head as the easing of COVID restrictions ushers live music back into daily life.

Over 100,000 people have signed a Change.org petition entitled “Let Touring Musicians Travel: Support Musicians Working in the EU Post-Brexit”, which calls upon the UK government and Parliament to back the idea of a Musicians’ Passport, which would ideally last a minimum of two years, be inexpensive to acquire, cover all states that are members of the EU, ensures that there is no need for additional permits, and covers road crew, technicians and other staff necessary for touring musicians. Mark Davyd, The CEO of the UK Music Venue Trust, told NME last year that Brexit’s impact on touring would only be manageable for artists who were already worldwide successes, stating; “This is basically a tax on new and emerging musicians. It’s not a tax that will have any impact on your James Blunts and Roger Daltreys. Someone will sit in an office and fill in all of their paperwork.”

The list of countries that have confirmed their participation in the policy includes Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden. The UK government then added that formal approaches have been made to Spain, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, and Cyprus to also waive the visa requirement.

Although there remain questions over the prohibitive costs relating to gear and vehicle transport across borders, as well as other tax and duty issues. All of these present the main roadblocks to post-Brexit touring, according to UK musician bodies.

Additionally, musicians in the United Kingdom have expressed concern about Brexit’s impact on touring musicians, specifically regarding potential costly fees surrounding a visa or work permit required to tour the European Union.

The music industry still remains angry in their attitude and are adamant that they still need to do much more. Ian Smith from ‘ukeartswork’ and the #CarryOnTouring campaign argued that the government’s statement was misleading at best and in places “badly wrong”.

He told NME “Yes, we have visa and permit free work in 19 countries – however, what has not been said is that those free periods range from seven days in any one year to 14-30 days to 90 days, all with different reporting requirements. This means reporting said work to either the border police or local authorities prior to entering to work.”

He continued: “I am tired of the spin, and also to be frank this does not help given that there is no visa waiver to eliminate the substantial problem of the 90 in 180 day non-visa nationals rule which all British citizens have to abide by if not legally resident in an EU state and who are beneficiaries of the withdrawal agreement.”

“Let’s make this ultra-clear: the UK government have not created any positive change by ‘engaging’ with individual EU states. They have merely been told the truth of what it means to be a third country non-visa national. Regardless of who said what way back during the negotiations, we need action now and continued action at that!”

This summer in response to these grievances we saw the launch of the #LetTheMusicMove campaign, with artists such as Wolf Alice, IDLES, Poppy Ajudha, and Radiohead among the 200 artists calling upon the UK government to take immediate action in order to resolve the ‘No Deal’ that has landed upon British music – while Elton John actually stated that the government were “philistines” for their approach.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat

In an interview with The Observer, the rock artist said that “I’m livid about what the government did when Brexit happened. They made no provision for the entertainment business, and not just for musicians, actors and film directors, but for the crews, the dancers, the people who earn a living by going to Europe,” he went on to add that “It’s a nightmare…To young people just starting a career, it’s crucifying.” 

Post-Brexit rules will mean that musicians are no longer guaranteed visa-free access to countries in the EU, making touring difficult if not impossible especially for less established artists who may have less funding and influence. Although frequent touring destinations such as France and Germany are on a list of 17 countries where the government claims gigs can go ahead “without needing visas or work permits”,  there are still more layers of bureaucracy to the process which were not there pre-Brexit and which can be complex to navigate. 

John has been met with great resistance when attempting to address this issue with those in power and when asked why he thought that was he responded by condemning the present government’s attitude, stating that “The government are philistines. We’ve got used to governments – especially the British government – just telling us lies every day, and I don’t feel OK with that….Look what they did with the NHS. After all that those people did during Covid, they give them a 1% increase. I find that extraordinary. It makes me so angry. I’m 74 years of age and I just don’t get this unfairness and this ridiculous ability to lie through your teeth every fucking minute of the day.”

The future of British musicians touring in Europe remains a contentious issue post-Brexit.

The Government’s failure in negotiating a free travel visa for UK and Europe for those who are touring – musicians and crews – continues to pose a problem for the industry. With no visible end in sight, it is very likely that touring acts will face huge costs of travel for future live music concerts, further developing the gap between emerging talents and big established acts. The UK Government recently rejected a petition, signed by over 280 thousand people and receiving overwhelming public support, calling them to negotiate visa-free tours for artists and crew.

Skin, frontwoman of the iconic band Skunk Anansie, explained: “EU touring and the need to get the right processes in place for simple and economical access to Europe is crucial at this time more than ever. “It is the lifeblood of bands and artists, not just financially, but in order to expand their fanbase and deliver their art to a wider audience. EU touring also opens up the windows of touring on a global scale with surrounding countries and continents, with the knock-on effect of the impact that bands and artists have that tour there. We need action, we need support, we need access, and we need it now!”

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree added: “Blur played our first gig outside the UK in Rotterdam in February 1991. We just jumped on a ferry with no restrictions for us or our gear. That August we were back in the Netherlands, followed by dates in Germany, France and then on into a full European tour. If we were starting out today trying to do the same, there would be a vast range of bureaucracy and costs, with different regimes in every country. We simply wouldn’t be able to afford it. The UK Government has to take this issue seriously and support touring artists. The future of British music is at stake.”

To try to fix the problem, the campaign calls upon the Government to deliver, along with many other points, a viable and long term plan for UK artists and crew to continue working without extra costs and bureaucracy, an urgent transitional package and measures to overcome the restrictive vehicle rules. To support and know more about the campaign, visit here.