This a post from last year the LRO has now gone through and the 500 limit will apply from this April.

Update on Live Music Act 

This time last year we were celebrating the coming into force of the Live Music Act –the culmination of  a 5 year campaign to deregulate the performance of live music in small venues dating back to the recommendations of the Live Music Forum of 2007.

That success was a tribute to a great many people and organisations and indeed the co-operation of the DCMS itself.

Revised guidance was introduced on 1^st October 2012.

The Act marked a real shift in the treatment of live music under the law in England and Wales.

UK Music, which with help from the Musicians Union and others helped push through the Live Music Act, believes the new legislation has the potential to create a major economic impact, with thousands of musicians, who can add to the £1.5 billion currently earned by the live music sector.

UK Music have now run a series of workshops round the country and have published a summary report which is very positive. Called the Rocktober report timed to coincide with  the first anniversary of the Act.

There is clearly common agreement on the great potential for an increase in Live Music in small venues.

I was delighted that the MU published a Live Music Kit at the time the Act came into force which is a comprehensive guide to hosting and promoting live music.

The key now is to ensure there is an accurate way to measure the economic and creative impact of the new Act.

Research commissioned by UK Music will help provide some of these answers.  A major study will investigate how some of the UK’s thousands of small scale live music outposts – and potential venues, such as restaurants and wine bars, which didn’t have an entertainment licence – will be affected by the Act.

UK Music has captured the baseline data of what the current UK small scale live music scene looks like.  This will be critical for measuring its growth over the next year or so.

This initial research indicated that an additional 13,000 pubs and clubs could now host rock and pop bands for the first time because of the new Act and more than 20,000 venues, who already promote gigs, could be encouraged to increase their involvement in promoting live music.

The creative and artistic benefits of the new Act will take time to work through the system in terms of label signings.  But, I hope in a year or so no one who loves music – and live music in particular – will be able to  argue that the Live Music Bill has been anything but good for the grass roots scene

Of course whilst the Live Music Bill was going through the Government itself  was consulting on further deregulation and earlier this year the Government published its proposals to increase the audience limit of 200 for exemptions under the Live Music Bill to 500.

The Government have said it will produce a Legislative Reform Order this year with a view to implementation.