Central to this strategy is Hull’s bid to become a UNESCO Creative City of Music. If successful, Hull would join an illustrious lineup of UK cities—Glasgow, Liverpool, and Belfast—that have spun their cultural landscape into global recognition. The council plans to submit its application in the new year, alongside the city’s inaugural five-year Music Plan.

A new ambitious plan for culture has been approved by Hull City Council.

Find out more here https://t.co/kgEjCwokkt

— Hull City Council (@Hullccnews) December 18, 2024

Kath Wynne-Hague, Head of Culture, expressed enthusiasm for the strategy’s potential, stating, “We can move forward with our plans to make Hull a global leader and a forward-thinking place to make and experience quality music.”

Hull’s musical heritage is as rich and diverse as the city itself. From the trailblazing post-punk sounds of The Housemartins, who famously declared Hull “the fourth most musical city in England,” to the evocative folk-rock stylings of Mick Ronson, David Bowie’s legendary guitarist. The city’s grassroots music scene thrives through events like the Humber Street Sesh, an annual celebration of emerging talent, while venues such as The New Adelphi Club have hosted countless influential artists.

The plan was developed after consulting over 1,200 residents and the strategy is anything but prescriptive. The statement released by Hull City Council noted the following as central to their ambitions: 

• become a leader for community-led culture by working together to activate the city, empower communities, assets and enable citizens to create, contribute to and enjoy their city’s culture and heritage
• become a community-led, globally focused city, using culture and heritage to accelerate competitiveness, amplify our distinctiveness and create the conditions for sustained growth.
• harness national and international partnerships to raise the city’s profile and make great work together
• develop city-wide strategic programming and networks with partners to co-design, co-ordinate and maximise opportunities, delivery and impact
• develop an active leadership across culture, with a structured approach including partnerships, citizen panels, and annual Cultural Tides and Visit Hull and East Yorkshire conferences bringing organisations and networks together

 It bills itself as a “living document,” primed to adapt to Hull’s evolving cultural landscape. 

It’s been an honour and privilege to have worked with some amazing staff to get this produced to it’s final draft. It wouldn’t have been possible if we hadn’t had responses from over 1200 people. Now to deliver on it and bid Successfully for our #UNESCO creative city status. https://t.co/XtajFERrK5 — Robert Pritchard (@rjlpritchard) December 20, 2024

The formal launch of the strategy is scheduled for March 2025, during the Cultural Tides Conference hosted by the Hull Truck Theatre. This event is anticipated to galvanise stakeholders and the community, marking a significant milestone in Hull’s cultural evolution.

Councillor Rob Pritchard, portfolio holder for culture and leisure, remarked, “The plan is far-reaching and offers the city a real direction in which to move our cultural scene forward, taking the community with us.” 

In a world where cities fight for economic dominance, Hull’s approach feels refreshingly radical in its focus on art as an engine for change. It reminds us that music is more than just entertainment. It is identity, collaboration, and, perhaps for Hull, a stairway to a global stage.

Alicia Raye aims to raise awareness among the general public and policymakers about the abundant creative abilities that Northern Ireland possesses. With optimism, this occasion can serve as a catalyst to navigate a path towards fostering and celebrating our diverse cultural heritage.

Alicia Raye at the age of 23 has established herself as an influential figure in the music industry. Renowned for her ability to shatter boundaries, Alicia’s first mixtape, Alphabet, made a remarkable impact by securing the top spot on the iTunes Hip Hop charts and reaching the second position on the Album charts. This exceptional mixtape garnered significant attention and backing from Digital Service Providers, amassing an impressive 700K streams on Spotify alone.

On Raye’s social media platform she said, “I’ve officially started my career as a recording artist in 2016, however I started writing music at the age of 11. I grew up in a musical household and my dad being a musician and pastor, loud Christian music of all sorts was a given. My mom was a hardcore Afrobeats and R&B lover so there was always a good mix in the sound of music played. As a kid I developed my own passion for poetry and that passion led me to rap which after years of practice, it transformed into singing. At 15 I had my very first studio session which boosted my confidence to the point that I’ve been recording ever since.”

Having relocated to the city two years ago, the talented artist, originally from Drogheda, acknowledges a significant shift in attitudes compared to her initial encounter with the border region a decade ago.

Raye said “I’ve been coming here the past 10 years, only living here since Covid, and I’ve seen a huge growth in diversity in Belfast. Ten years ago, when I was in Victoria Square, people were still asking me could they touch my hair when I had my Afro. This was only 10 years ago — it wasn’t donkeys of years ago. I’ve gone from that being my first encounter of standing out in Belfast to moving on to 2023 where I’m putting on an event and I have more than 30 creatives in Belfast who have been working their socks off.”

The Oh Yeah Music Centre in Cathedral Quarter will be hosting this year’s Sound of Belfast celebration, a festival that aims to highlight the musical talents of Belfast. Taking place from November 9 to 19, the event will showcase a diverse range of genres including jazz, rock, electronic, and folk music from various artists across Northern Ireland.

Charlotte Dryden, chief executive of the Oh Yeah group, had this to say, “Sound of Belfast is about showcasing the best and the most exciting music that we have right here on our own doorstep. From world-class musicians and inspiring celebrated names to an emerging exciting scene full of diversity. This year’s programme is the greatest example of this to date with 62 events in 25 venues. Thanks to the artists, venues, partners, funders, sponsors and everyone that is on board with our vision in promoting Belfast as a thriving place for music. Together we make a great music city.”

Alicia Raye is set to perform alongside a talented lineup of artists on November 13th for Roots & Visions. Other performers include Rwanda Shaw, Don Chi, and Belfast’s very own Daniel August. In addition to her live performance, Alicia Raye will also be showcasing her DJ skills alongside DJ Eulogy and DJ Mstobii.

Tickets for this event are free and can be reserved here.

NTIA AND NDML RELEASE A ‘STUDY OF THE NIGHT TIME ECONOMY’ CGA REPORT:

Learn more and view the full report below: https://t.co/39of8XbJGN
#Savenightlife #Culture #NTE #NightTimeEconomy #Study #Report #Jobs #Hospitality #Latenight #UK pic.twitter.com/uTNPyTuP5K

— Night Time Industries Association (@wearethentia) October 11, 2021

Michael Kill, a CEO of NTIA commented on the case: “it is the worst possible time to introduce vaccine passports, which will further damage a sector essential to the economic recovery“. At the moment, vaccine passports are required in Scotland and Wales, with a plan to introduce them elsewhere been dismissed.
Sacha Lord, an event promoter and Manchesters economy adviser said: “We’re in a dire position and in order to recover to pre-pandemic levels, we need investment, strategy and most importantly, top-level acknowledgement of the industry’s contribution to the UK economy. Take any city, town or village in the UK, and you’ll find its pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants are central to its recovery“.
“The nightlife scene is critical to our post-Brexit, post-Covid future and economic growth, and to ignore it would be a devastating blow to our cultural reputation” he continues.
Kill said about the report that it’s an important and long-overdue “piece of work” as “in my 25-year career working in UK nightlife, it has always struck me as so odd that we did not have a proper accounting of the value of this important sector. Today’s report puts that right, and is long overdue“.
Christian Wakeford, the Night-Time Economy and Conservative MP said regarding the issue: “It’s timely because at this moment, governments in Scotland and Wales are pressing ahead with chaotic vaccine passport plans, and the UK Government refuses to rule out their use in England. It is the worst possible time to introduce vaccine passports, which will further damage a sector essential to the economic recovery“.
There’s pressure on the Chancellor to use the budget wisely and support the night-life sector with the extension of “the 12.5 per cent rate of VAT on hospitality until 2024, include door sales in that reduced rate of VAT, because the present system punishes nightclubs that rely on door sales rather than selling tickets, and for him to ensure there are no increases in Alcohol Duties – our sector really cannot afford any additional burdens“.
Last month UK Government scrapped plans to introduce vaccine passports to gain entry into an event. The scheme was announced earlier in the year but fortunately for the night-life economy, it’s been dismissed. Scottish Government hoverer put it into life on 1st October, Wales followed that path and introduced compulsory Covid Pass today (11th October.
As per new law in Wales “all over-18s need one to enter nightclubs, indoor non-seated events for more than 500 people, such as concerts or conventions, outdoor non-seated events for more than 4,000 people and any setting or event with more than 10,000 people in attendance. People will also be able to show they have had a negative lateral flow test result within the last 48 hours“.
Fake coronavirus test results and vaccination status will be treated as a criminal offence and face penalty notice.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat

With the city exciting a long national lockdown, the Mayor explained: ‘Let’s Do London is the biggest tourism campaign our city has ever seen. The reason it’s so important is that the last 15 months have been incredibly tough for us. But I also recognise not just the intrinsic enjoyment we get from retail, culture and hospitality, but that one in five jobs in London are in those areas. We’ve got to make sure that we bounce back as quickly as possible to avoid mass unemployment, leading to a massive recession.’

Hence, Mayor Khan recognises the importance of culture and entertainment for London, and the urgency to bring them back in action: ‘So Let’s Do London is about bringing all the key players in London together: The Globe, the National Theatre, the Southbank, the V&A, the O2, great chefs, great artists like David Hockney, great live music venues, pubs, bars and restaurants. We want to make sure that this summer is the best summer we’ve ever seen’ He said to Time Out.

With the next stage of the roadmap out of lockdown going on on as planned from May 17th, ‘Let’s do London’ promises a rejuvenated sense of what the city does well: as Khan put it, ‘I think our city reopening will allow us to get our mojo back.’ More info on the ‘Let’s do London’ campaign can be found here.

They expressed concern at the so called ‘safe harbour,’ defence which has been plaguing the music streaming debate for a while now which involves services finding ways to avoid paying royalties to artists despite hosting their music. Leathem in particular expressed a strong willingness to work with the government in enforcing new regulations on the industry which may require streaming services or social media platforms to pay more royalties to musicians. However, while both Leathem and Martin did show a willingness to work with the government if new legislation was to be brought into place, there were some areas which both parties were keen to state that these were issues which ought to be raised with record labels, such as the controversial breakages clauses included in record deals where the majority of revenue is generated through streaming.

Artists have argued that clauses which stipulate a deduction of often as much as 10% be taken from their royalties to cover the cost of broken vinyl or CDs, are unfair when physical copies are not making up a significant amount of that revenue, with some even going so far as to claim that the labels are seeking to their own loss of revenue due to streaming at the artist’s expense.

Tune in to our third #MusicStreamingInquiry session with CMOs & music company CEOs:

– Andrea Martin, @PRSforMusic & Peter Leathem, @PPLUK
– David Joseph, @UMusicUK, Jason Iley, @SonyMusicUK & Tony Harlow, @WarnerMusicUK

More info: https://t.co/SheCv5v3Rk https://t.co/3H91Qmq9RY

— Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (@CommonsDCMS) January 19, 2021

In the second portion of the inquiry held yesterday, which is the third instalment in a series of hearings which have been running periodically since October last year with a variety of witnesses being called, consisted of a tense series of questions being posed to record label bosses which was characterised by serial evasiveness by the bosses and increasing frustration for the MPs.

The most difficult question for the bosses to handle was in reference to Spotify claiming that certain labels had in 2017 agreed to allow them to reduce royalties in return for meeting certain economic targets. The MPs pressured the label bosses to state whether or not artists had suffered a reduction in royalties as a result of this deal but none of the executives were able to give a convincing answer, despite claiming that the amount of money they paid to artists has increased.