Creative Corner
See the windows under this heading for a series of campaigns on the Creative Industries
See my speech here discussing whether the Government has a strategy to address the future regulation of media content in a technologically converged world.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/131030-0001.htm#13103065000146
I concluded “I sense in all this no really coherent strategic intent, and perhaps no real intent at this stage to amend the Communications Act 2003. I look forward to the Minister’s reply but if we are not careful we will bumble along until well after the next general election, and that would be a mistake, as I think the committee’s report clearly shows.”
The potential for Music Tourism
On 11th July 2013 I took part in a debate initiated by Lib Dem peer Lord Storey on the great potential for music tourism in the UK.
As I said: “We all believe that the UK is the centre of the world for live music but we need hard facts to establish this and the role that live music plays in generating tourism. The new UK Music report will be very welcome, especially if it can demonstrate what proportion of live music audiences is comprised of tourists as opposed to the local population, and the economic impact of their visit to the live music event.
I hope that this new information will really prompt the Government, DCMS, BIS, DCLG, Defra, the Home Office and the Treasury—all relevant government departments—to get together with VisitBritain, VisitEngland, UKTI, the British Council, the Arts Council and both the music industry and the tourism and hospitality industry to identify the real levers and barriers to growing music tourism at national level. We need a properly joined-up strategy, particularly in terms of reducing regulation.”
www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/130711-0003.htm#13071180000289
Government Strategy for the Creative Industries
During the Queen’s speech debate in the Lords last May I argued strongly that we needed to recognize that intellectual property underpins our creative industries. As a champion for both we need a joint Creative Industries/Intellectual Property Minister not two separate Ministers. We need to continue to educate consumers on the importance of of legal downloading and file sharing.