Music industry: how Brexit is stopping British bands

The corona pandemic already cost tens of thousands of jobs in the British music industry. Brexit exacerbated the situation. A European tour is now expensive, complicated or even impossible for many musicians.

“Project Blackbird” at a gig in “Under the Bridge”, a concert hall under the Chelsea Stadium: around a hundred people have come, there is dancing in front of the stage, and there is a beer in the back of the room for thirsty concert-goers. “Project Blackbird” was on tour in Europe this year. Paperwork? Jon Read, the band’s trumpeter, laughs. “A lot of paperwork, a lot, including for customs clearance,” he says.

The musician speaks calmly, but he is seething. Brexit made everything complicated. Among other things, all the equipment for customs must be listed. “We had to identify every single instrument – with weight, country of origin, value,” says Read. “The document is valid for one year, but we cannot change it. That means the next time we go to the continent, we have to take exactly the same equipment with us. If we want to take other things with us, we need a new customs document. ”

Tens of thousands of job losses in the industry

The music industry has been particularly hard hit. According to UK Music, an umbrella organization of the billion dollar British music industry, almost 70,000 jobs were lost in the industry as a result of the corona pandemic in 2020. Brexit came on top of that.

A double blow: It was like a car and a train accident at the same time, says Horace Trubridge, who as head of the Musicians’ Union represents around 32,000 musicians. He sums up the year 2021 as follows: “First of all, it became clear to us that we would need visas or work permits or both for a number of EU countries.”

High hurdles for every tour through Europe

There was also a transport problem for the equipment. Because now a British truck can only be loaded or unloaded at two stations in the EU. This does not work for a tour through several countries. In addition, there is the effort with the customs declarations, the customs fees for the merchandising articles of the bands and much more. For Trubridge, it’s all a nightmare to this day.

Jon Read from “Project Blackbird” knows from personal experience how expensive touring in Europe has become. “In terms of travel, customs and insurance, it costs almost £ 1,000 before you even leave the house. You have to give extra concerts to get the money back.” He’s lucky, he says. His band could still afford to appear in Europe. Many young, aspiring musicians could no longer do that.