It’s been a huge week for our Face the Music campaign in Scotland – we’ve been in Holyrood, on the news, and out on the streets, making noise for musicians.
Together, with European Movement in Scotland, European Movement activists are making waves and change is now on the horizon for our live music sector.
Here are the highlights:
- Organised by our partners, European Movement in Scotland, our mass busk on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile was covered by BBC Scotland, STV and The National, bringing attention to the post-Brexit issues facing musicians and the need for solutions
- Our campaign got multiple mentions during a Scottish Parliament debate on Scotland's new International Culture Strategy, with MSPs from across the political spectrum highlighting the need for a visa waiver scheme for musicians
- We then joined Michelle Thomson MSP, Convenor for the Cross-Party Group on Music, inside Holyrood for what will be the first Face the Music roundtable event.
Around the table with us we had Scottish Labour, the SNP, music trade bodies (such as the ISM and the Association for Electronic Music), Alastair Mackie (Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra) and musicians (such as Iona Fyfe and Pat Kane) to explore the issues Brexit has caused and discuss practical solutions with the live music industry. This was only the first meeting, and it's very exciting to see where this roundtable will go.
A big thank you again to every single musician who joined us for the Busk Against Brexit.
If you haven't already, join over 29,000 others by signing the petition and pledging your support for the music industry here.