Live Updates: Beyond The Music conference round-up
Key points
For the second year in a row, the Beyond The Music conference is taking over Manchester. Over the course of three days, notable figures from the music industry will come together at the Aviva Studios to share ideas and examine key subjects such as climate change, mental health, misogyny, and artificial intelligence.
The event began on October 9th with a keynote conversation between Manchester rapper Aitch and broadcaster Dotty. Aitch is one of Manchester’s most significant musical exports in recent years, and during his speech, he spoke about the importance of placing his hometown on the map, telling the crowd: “No one is having label meetings here. When you come from here, the goal is to get to London. If you grew up in London, your goal is to smash America. But if you grew up here, you want to smash London and show that lot what’s what.”
‘Beyond The Music’ comes to a close for the day
Following the conclusion of ‘Misogyny In Music: The Truth’, the panel discussions at Beyond The Music have now drawn to a close on October 10th. It’s been a day of important conversations ranging from the experiences of women within the music industry to the need for streaming services to pay artists fairly.
Tomorrow, the event is set to continue and the Secretary for Culture, Media, and Sport, Lisa Nandy, is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at Aviva Studios.
For those lucky enough to be in Manchester, a series of live concerts are taking place across independent venues this evening such as 33 Oldham Street, Band on the Wall and Gullivers.
Attendance for ‘Misogyny In Music: The Truth’
While the ‘Misogyny In Music: The Truth’ has been a vital discussion, Far Out’s Elle Palmer notes of the slightly disappointing attendance for the event: “Although the main conference room was packed out in the morning and consistently busy all day, the misogyny in music talk seemed slightly quieter than the rest. An audience member commented on the fact during the questions and answer session, noting how it might reflect the issue at hand.”
Following this question, the panel’s moderator, Dr Diljeet Bhachu, said her call to action was for those in the room to go away and ask any conference attendees they know who opted not to come to explain their reasoning.
[Link]The wider societal conversation surrounding misogyny
Now, Shillito has addressed the rise in people openly discussing the existence of misogyny in the music industry, stating, “This year, particularly, even when the misogyny in music report came out, that’s the first time I’ve seen a huge amount of people in my industry repost it, men included.”
Despite the report being rejected by the government, Perkins maintained the conversation is only becoming more spoken about, adding, “The conversation has not gone away, if anything it’s been amplified.”
On a wider note, Shillito referenced the broader conversation surrounding abuse against women, referencing the recent case in France surrounding Gisele Pelicot who bravely waived her right to anonymity. “The conversation is now loud,” she said, before continuing, “You can’t ignore it anymore and I think there’s power in that.”
“Men need to come along with us”
Zelda Perkins made an important point regarding misogyny in the music industry being a battle that men also need to help fight, stating, “The dialogue is so important and it’s about not dividing the genders. Men need to come along with us. The rules were written by men for men, but that’s not actually the current men’s fault.”
On a similar note, Ni Maxine, highlighted the important of men attempting to understand the experiences of women, especially those of colour. Maxine said that “as an independent artist, we very much rely on other organisations that are often led by white men, older white men as well, who do not understand what it means to be a black woman.”
Frances Barber Shillito then further conveyed the need for men to involve themselves in this conversation, adding, “Men respond to men, unfortunately. The don’t respond to women. So the more we can bring them into that conversation and encourage them to not be scared of it.”
Tony Harlow and Michael Adex’s keynote speech
This morning, Warner Music’s Tony Harlow and NQ Management’s Michael Adex, who notably manages Aitch, kicked off proceedings with a joint keynote speech at the South Warehouse. Beyond The Music have now shared images from the event, which you can see below.
“There’s been no changes at all”
Zelda Perkins, co-founder of the campaign group Can’t Buy My Silence which deals with stopping the misuse of NDAs to keep victims silent, told those at Aviva Studios: “Some days I feel like there’s been some really seismic changes. Other days I feel like there’s been no changes at all.”
Perkins also highlighted the rejection of the report by the Women and Equalities Committee, adding: “There’s no reason for them to have basically ignored the recommendations that were very robust and clear from that report.”
“It’s not just the perpetrator, it’s the systems around the perpetrator,” she continued. “You can buy the laws. You can buy justice.”
Perkins then mentioned the importance of educating women about NDAs, and the rights they are unknowingly signing away.
[Link]The realities of misogyny in the music industry
The panel began the discussion by referencing a report published earlier this year by the Women and Equalities Committee, which made a series of suggestions to improve the landscape for women. However, the findings of this report were later rejected by the previous government.
Jen Smith said that misogyny is still a very real problem women face on a daily basis in this industry, remarking, “The endemic poor behaviour that people experience is not in the past, it’s very current”.
‘Misogyny in Music’ discussion
Next up on Far Out’s agenda at Beyond The Music is ‘Misogyny In Music: The Truth’, which is now underway at the South Warehouse. The event is a discussion between Dr Diljeet Bhachu, Zelda Perkins, Jen Smith, Ni Maxine, and Frances Barber Shilitto.
The event description reads: “The previous government’s Women & Equalities Committee’s Misogyny In Music report underlined how ingrained misogynistic culture is in the music industry, and the rejection of the recommendations revealed a worrying lack of seriousness, understanding and responsibility towards half of this industry’s workers. In a drive to rewrite the cultural boundaries of the music business by truly understanding the difficulties women face, Beyond The Music gives the stage to those who want to share their experiences, gathering experts to discuss and shape the brand-new voluntary regulation.”
[Link]Burnham believes “the industry needs to do more”
While his speech has now concluded, another important moment in the address came when Burnham spoke about the need for visibility and the importance for a pathway into the music industry.
The former MP began by saying: “I do think the industry needs to do more, but let me particularly talk about it with reference to music careers, because I think it’s quite hard to be someone growing up in one of our ten boroughs and finding their way into the GM music industry. As brilliant as it is, it’s just not clear. It’s not structured.”
Looking ahead to 2025, he continued: “Here’s the challenge, or the friendly challenge, that I’m going to put out today to see whether we can come back to Beyond The Music in 2025 and find ourselves in a different position with giving young people growing up in Greater Manchester visibility of music careers.”
Burnham also spoke proudly about his recently-launched Greater Manchester Baccalaureate scheme which well allow 14-year-olds to go down a different route opposed to traditional education, such as the arts.
[Link]Burnham’s address well-received
Far Out’s Elle Palmer, who is on the ground at Aviva Studios, says that Burnham’s address went down a storm with those at Beyond The Music.
Highlighting the positive atmosphere, Palmer said: “Andy Burnham gave a very quick and concise but optimistic, forward-thinking speech and showed a lot of pride for what Manchester has done for creative industries and also expressed ambition to do more in this sphere.”
[Link]Burnham makes promise to working class musicians
Towards the end of his speech, Burnham told those at Aviva Studios that schemes need to be put in place to ensure working class talent is recognised, stating, “We know in our heart of hearts we have to fix this. We cannot in the future just think that that working class talent will find its way.”
Burnham also declared that he’d use his position to do as much help as possible, adding, “As Mayor I will lead from the front and I will support you all the way if you’re prepared to do that with us as an industry.”
[Link]Burnham – “We need the real living wage”
Elsewhere in his address, Burnham also spoke about class inequality in the music business and the need for it to be an accessible industry for people of all backgrounds. The Labour politician spoke out against unpaid internships, commenting, “We need paid internships, everybody. We need the real living wage.”
Additionally, Burnham promised that pathways would be in place for teenagers across the region to enter the music industry before Beyond The Music in 2025. “We have to mean it and we have to do it. We have to put that investment back in to bring on the next generation,” he passionately stated.
Burnham wants to set a blueprint with Manchester that can be followed by other cities across in the United Kingdom. He explained: “Let’s create a template for how you bring the next generation into music careers in Greater Manchester. Let’s have industry players, big and small, as part of that working group, and fix it together.”
[Link]Burnham hails music industry “a voice of decency”
The summer was sadly filled with riots across the United Kingdom and Burnham believes the music industry played a crucial role in spreading a positive message during those dark times. “I hadn’t thought we’d see a situation where people in our city region were going out of their front doors looking over their shoulder, kind of fearful of what might happen, but these other dark and divided times in which we live,” he stated.
“I want to congratulate and thank the music industry for being a voice of decency, of humanity, a champion of diversity in these difficult times,” Burnham continued.
The diversity of Manchester’s music industry is a source of pride for Burnham, who added, “For an industry which proudly champions equality and diversity in pretty much everything that it does, the issue is it’s getting less effective itself at being a truly diverse industry.”
The success of night buses returning to Manchester
Using his address, Burnham began his speech by discussing the reunion of Oasis next year, who are set to play four shows at Heaton Park in 2025, stating, “We’ve got a certain family reunion taking place next year, if they’re still talking.”
Furthermore, Burnham also used the platform to share his pride about night buses recently starting again in Manchester. Last month, a year-long pilot scheme was launched which offers a key service to those working in the hospitality sector and music fans.
He told the crowd: “We have brought back night busses in the last year, and we all know don’t we that getting home from from gigs is far too difficult. If we’re going to support venues, you’ve got to get people to and from (venues), including when they want to go home. So it’s just to start, and we’re going to have an extensive network of night busses, and that will be in place, I promise you, by Beyond The Music 2025.”
[Link]Andy Burnham to begin address shortly
After previously being forced to pull out of his duties on the grassroots panel earlier today, Andy Burnham, is moments away from appearing at South Warehouse at Aviva Studios to address those in attendance at Beyond The Music.
[Link]Mental health in the music industry
At the ‘Who Is Looking After the Industry’s Mental Health? A Collective Remedy’ discussion at Aviva Studios’ Flexible Space, Ben Tipple from Co-op Live highlighted the main issue surrounding mental health problems in the music industry, stating, “We are, as an industry… very results driven. We work to very tight and very fast deadlines.”
He also said: “If that isn’t going to change then what can we change in the culture, what can we change in accessibility to services that will counteract that?”
Tipple is speaking alongside Grace Meadows from Help Musicians and Studio 88’s Darrius Stewart. The event is set to conclude at 2:00pm.
[Link]How the new government could assist the music industry
Towards the end of the panel, Collins highlighted how the Labour government is seemingly more committed to the arts compared to the Conservative Party, which provides a glimmer of hope.
He stated that Prime Minister Keir Starmer understands the importance of young people “being able to meet and make noise, co-operate, teamwork, hand-eye co-ordination and all of these things.”
Collins continued: “We’ve had a shift, we’ve got a government that values music within arts, and is not talking about it as an add-on to education but making it central. They know where we’re coming from.”
The Live CEO also demanded the government drop the VAT rate on tickets from 20 per cent to a lower level, like the rest of Europe, which would allow gigs to be more affordable to the masses.
Could music learn from football?
Rose Marley highlighted how Premier League football clubs pay into the system with the finances trickling down to teams in lower tiers of the football pyramid, which she believes could be used in the music industry.
“If Andy Burnham was here he’d be saying exactly that… in football, the Premier League does pay into the grassroots,” Marley said, before adding, “That money from the top does trickle down.”
In this scenario, for example, artists playing arenas or stadiums could be made to pay a percentage of their ticket sales to grassroots venues. However, it may be difficult to make a reality due to artists not being affiliated with an overarching association such as the FA like in football.
Helping young people enter the music industry
Dr Jo Twist, who works at the BPI, explained to those in attendance at the South Warehouse that she spent yesterday at the Factory Academy, who are offering training programmes to young people in Manchester and expressed the importance of these schemes. She passionately said: “Let’s get into job centres. Let’s get into those pathways really early on.”
The importance of music education
During the discussion, Kara Mukerjee from Warner Music Group, highlighted the importance of teaching children how to play instruments at an early age to avoid music becoming an industry solely occupied by the rich, stating, “We’ve got music classrooms across the country that don’t have a single instrument in them.”
Mukerjee’s comments follow remarks made earlier this week by Lisa Nandy, the Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport, who said that culture and creativity have been “erased” from classrooms over the last few years. She also stated that the Labour Party plans to address this by remaining “absolutely determined” to ensure every child has access to the arts.
[Link]Issues with the live music economy addressed
Jon Collins, who is one of the industry professionals speaking at the grassroots panel, is the Chief Executive at Live, which is a federation consisting of 15 organisations such as the Music Venues Trust. It was set up during the Covid-19 pandemic, and is a voice for the live entertainment industry.
Due to the cost of living crisis among other issues, the live industry is currently struggling, especially independent grassroots venues, and Collins says, “It’s not that people don’t want to come out it’s that the economics don’t stack up.”
Meanwhile, Sam Duckworth, best known as Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly, also said that without these venues as community hubs there is “nothing”, adding, “It’s not just economics, it’s social and it’s fabric.”
[Link]Grassroots panel gets underway
After Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, was forced to pull out of the ‘Growing the Grassroots: How cross-industry investment can save the music ecosystem’ panel, the conversation is now being chaired by Rose Marley.
In Burnham’s absence, Marley explained that the politician is frustrated that he’s no longer able to engage in a necessary discussion of the grassroots eco-system. However, in fairness to Burnham, he was called to a meeting by the Prime Minister, according to Marley.
She told the crowd: “He’s sincerely apologetic not to be here, he does have a good excuse, he’s been called for a meeting with the Prime Minister, so we will let him off. But he will be here at 2:00pm to do an address”.
Marley is joined on the panel by Atlanta Cobb, Jon Collins, Kara Mukerjee, Sam Duckworth and Dr Jo Twist.
Tom Gray hits out at streaming royalties
During his keynote speech, Gray used his platform to address the issues with streaming platforms such as Spotify and the royalty rates they pay artists for their material, telling those in attendance, “The song is woefully undervalued in streaming. What are you paying for if not the song?”
The Chair of the Ivors Academy also lamented the role of the internet in the modern music industry, remarking, “The internet changed everything and nothing”. On this note, Gray asserted that music needs to be valued above merely being considered content, stating, “Whatever we do, music is not just a commodity. It is a vital part of our social fabric.”
Gray is currently speaking at the South Warehouse at Aviva Studios.
Beyond The Music prepares to welcome Tom Gray
Before Gray takes to the stage, New Order blares out of the speakers to give the audience a reminder of their Manchester surroundings. The former Gomez singer, who ran to be a Labour MP earlier this year, is one of Beyond The Music’s most notable speakers and currently sits as the Chair of the Ivors Academy.
[Link]Warner Music CEO praises Manchester
To kick off proceedings at the South Warehouse at Aviva Studios, Tony Harlow, CEO at Warner Music UK, praised Manchester’s emergence in the United Kingdom’s music industry, stating, “It’s not a London world anymore, brilliant thought is global now.”
Furthermore, Harlow said that there’s “a whole wave of new thinkers about the business” who are coming from the city. He also believes it’s refreshing that the industry is becoming less reliant on London, adding, “What’s being done up here to make this a media capital is changing the way everything is done in the UK.”
Harlow is currently in conversation with Michael Adex and Tom Sutherland.
Andy Burnham withdraws from panel
Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, will no longer moderate a conversation regarding the future of grassroots venues at Aviva Studios’ South Warehouse. The event, titled, ‘Growing the Grassroots: How cross-industry investment can save the music ecosystem’, will now be chaired by Rose Marley. It’s set to begin at 11:45am and conclude at 1:00pm. Others on the panel include Dr Jo Twist from the BPI and singer-songwriter, Sam Duckworth.
Despite the schedule change, Burnham will still be involved in Beyond The Music. The politician is set to give an address at the South Warehouse at 2pm.
What to expect from Beyond The Music
After Aitch kicked off the ceremony on October 9th, Beyond The Music is firmly underway in 2024. Today’s guest speakers include the likes of the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, and Tom Gray, the chairman of the Ivor’s Academy.
Wide-ranging discussions set to take place at Aviva Studios include panels tackling misogyny in the music industry, exploring the economic situation, and also a conversation regarding the future of grassroots venues.
Introduction to Beyond The Music
Good morning! It’s Joe here, and I’ll be guiding you through all of the coverage of Beyond The Music in Manchester as it takes place across the day. My colleague, Elle Palmer, will also be covering the event live from Aviva Studios, and providing updates as they take place.
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