Michelle Donelan has been named as the UK’s eighth culture secretary in five years as part of a cabinet reshuffle by new prime minister Liz Truss.

Donelan, who succeeds Nadine Dorries in the post, worked in the media and entertainment business prior to becoming an MP in 2015, serving stints with Pacific Magazines, The History Channel and WWE (World Wresting Entertainment), where was employed as an international marketing communications manager.

She was appointed education minister in 2021 and was briefly education secretary this past July, stepping down after 48 hours amid mass resignations by more than 50 government members in protest at then PM Boris Johnson’s leadership.

Live music trade bodies have welcomed Donelan to her new role while stressing the urgent challenges facing the sector.

“Congratulations to Michelle Donelan MP on her appointment as secretary of state at DCMS,” says outgoing Association of Independent Festivals CEO Paul Reed. “It remains a uniquely challenging time for festivals as we look to the 2023 season. Although now fully operational, we are still in a recovery phase, facing an ongoing perfect storm of rising costs, supply chain issues, record low consumer confidence and audiences making extremely difficult choices due to the cost of the living crisis.

“We look forward to working closely with the minister and ensuring appropriate interventions and support for our culture defining festival sector, which generates £1.76bn GVA for the UK economy annually and supports 85,000 jobs.”

“We need urgent government action on the energy crisis which threatens to permanently close hundreds of grassroots music venues”

The UK’s Music Venue Trust (MVT), meanwhile, has used the opportunity to reiterate the need for intervention to combat the surge in energy bills that threatens the future of around 30% of the entire network of venues.

“We need urgent government action on the energy crisis which threatens to permanently close hundreds of grassroots music venues,” says venue support manager Clare Cullen in a social media post. “In the short term this will require financial interventions to tackle extraordinary price rises. In the longer term, we need [Donelan’s] department to investigate the energy market for music venues (and the rest of the hospitality sector) and to work with us to find a way to to make energy supply reliable, sustainable, and affordable.”

With MVT chief Mark Davyd previously revealing that Dorries was the first culture secretary to decline a meeting with the organisation since it was founded in 2014, the organisation is keen to establish a relationship with her successor.

“The UK’s grassroots music venues face multiple challenges to their resilience, sustainability and economic viability,” says Cullen in an open letter to Donelan. “These challenges are solvable. Music Venue Trust would like to invite you to attend a Parliamentary event on 14 September in which we will be describing just one of these solutions – our plan to change the ownership model so that the music community itself has a say in the future if grassroots music venue. We need to #ownourvenues

“We want a working relationship with you and your department that delivers positive change for UK artists and venues. To that end we have today formally requested a meeting with you at your earliest opportunity. Music Venue Trust has met with eight of the nine previous secretaries of state for DCMS that have held this post since our creation in 2014. We look forward to meeting with you so we can begin the work of creating a truly world beating grassroots live music sector.”

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UK culture secretary Nadine Dorries has stepped down ahead of a cabinet reshuffle by new prime minister Liz Truss.

Dorries, a staunch ally of outgoing PM Boris Johnson, succeeded Oliver Dowden as culture secretary in September last year, becoming the seventh politician in less than five years to hold the post.

The Conservative MP, who is returning to the backbenches and is tipped to receive a peerage, says in her resignation letter that she was asked to stay on in the role by Truss, but felt she would be “better placed to support her from outside of the cabinet”.

Dorries’ controversial 12-month reign as head of the Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) has seen her attack the BBC’s licence fee model as “completely outdated“, led moves to privatise Channel 4 and draw up legislation for the Online Safety Bill.

Music Venue Trust (MVT) CEO Mark Davyd also revealed that Dorries was the first culture secretary to decline a meeting with the organisation since it was founded in 2014.

Her replacement, who is yet to be announced, will become the 11th culture secretary since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.

Truss, meanwhile, begins her term as the fourth Conservative prime minister in six years today after seeing off Rishi Sunak in a leadership contest in the wake of Johnson’s resignation.

“Without urgent action to help music venues, studios and other music businesses, there is a real risk that many will go to the wall”

She has vowed to set out a plan within a week to deal with the UK’s energy crisis, amid a warning from the MVT that the surge in energy bills means that around 30% of the entire network of venues face the threat of permanent closure.

Based on a survey of its 941 venue members, the organisation revealed that venues face an average 316% rise in fuel bills, taking the average cost to £5,179 per month per venue, up from the current average of £1,245.

“Alongside the simply unaffordable increases to costs, the government must urgently address the fact that the market for energy supply has collapsed,” said Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd. “We have multiple examples where venues do not have any option other than to accept whatever price increases and tariffs are proposed by the sole supplier prepared to offer them power at all. The situation has rapidly deteriorated into a monopoly.”

UK Music chief Jamie Njoku-Goodwin is also urging Truss to make tackling the cost of living crisis facing the music industry a key priority, and called on the new PM to repeat the action the government took to help the music and hospitality sector during the pandemic, when the VAT rate was cut from 20% to 5%.

“During the campaign, Liz Truss rightly talked about the need to tackle the crippling cost of living – and she must now deliver on that commitment immediately,” he says. “Without urgent action to help music venues, studios and other music businesses, there is a real risk that many will go to the wall.”

Michael Kill, CEO of the Night-Time Industries Association (NTIA), congratulated Truss on her appointment, adding: “It is now vital that the new prime minister takes this opportunity to be decisive in tackling the cost inflation crisis, over the coming days, by reducing VAT across the board, extending business rates relief and implementing an energy cap for small medium enterprise businesses.”

“Over the coming weeks without an effective intervention from the government, we will see thousands of businesses go to the wall and millions of jobs lost.”

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Live Nation has announced plans to use more than 100 of its US venues as polling stations for the American presidential election on 3 November.

The concert giant says it is working with local authorities to examine the feasibility of using Live Nation-owned venues across the country as polling centres, with the Wiltern (1,850-cap.) and Hollywood Palladium (3,800-cap.) in Los Angeles, Emo’s (1,700-cap.) in Austin, Texas, and the Buckhead Theatre (1,800-cap.) in Atlanta already confirmed.

The Fillmore (2,500-cap.) in Philadelphia is in the “final stages of the vetting process”, it adds.

“Core to what we do at Live Nation is helping amplify voices on stage around the world, and supporting voting is another important way we want to continue making voices heard,” comments LN CEO Michael Rapino. “We’re honoured to work with such incredible partners and will do everything in our power to support and empower voter engagement among our employees and the public.”

The LN properties join other venues previously announced as serving as polling stations, including multiple arenas

The company has also partnered with More Than a Vote, a non-profit organisation supporting black voters, and announced it will give its employees paid time off to vote.

The Live Nation properties join other venues previously announced as serving as polling stations, including multiple arenas. They include Madison Square Garden in New York, the Los Angeles Forum, State Farm Arena in Atlanta and Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.

“As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to make mass gatherings difficult, we are excited to partner with New York City’s board of elections,” says Madison Square Garden’s Rich Constable, “and support our community by providing a large-scale venue in the heart of New York City that can accommodate social distancing and serve as a safe place for residents to exercise their right to vote.”

The US presidential election will be held on Tuesday 3 November 2020, pitting incumbent president Donald Trump against Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.

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Nearly 100 bars across Slovakia will next month welcome more than 140 acts for Slovenská krčma (‘Slovak Pubs’), an ‘anti-fascist’ festival organised in protest against growing support for far-right politics.

Beginning on Monday 4 and running until Sunday 16 February, Slovenská krčma will feature domestic stars such as Billy Barman, Para, Rozpor, Vec & Škrupo + Tono, Bez ladu a skladu, Modré Hory and Komajota, as well as emerging acts from a variety of genres.

The venues, meanwhile, include ‘proper’ pubs as well as cafés and clubs, in cities and towns including Bratislava, Hurbanovo, Námestovo, Trebišov and Hostovice, near the north-eastern border.

The latest opinion polling for shows the Direction – Social Democracy (Smer–SD) party with a narrow lead (-6%) over the ultranationalist, anti-gypsy People’s Party Our Slovakia (LSNS) – with many fearing that concerns over corruption could lead to a shock victory for the far right at Slovakia’s next parliamentary elections on 29 February 2020.

“Pub frequenters in Slovakia are not racist and do not identify with fascist views”

Meanwhile, Smer–SD’s leader, ousted ex-prime minister Robert Fico, is being investigated by police for supporting Milan Mazurek, an LSNS member of parliament fined and expelled for making racist statements, stating that Mazurek’s views reflect those of the average pub-going Slovak. Mazurek had said that “gypsy anti-socials have never done anything for the nation and never will” and compared gypsy (Roma) children to “animals in the zoo”.

In a statement, the event’s organisers, who are also the brains behind the country’s biggest music festival, Pohoda, say: “We believe that most of the pub frequenters in Slovakia are not racist and do not identify with fascist views. It was people who go to pubs that Robert Fico referred to when he said after Mazurek’s conviction: ‘If the Supreme Court’s verdict is to be a measure of what is a criminal offence regarding statements on Roma, police might as well enter any pub in Slovakia and lock up all the customers, including dogs lying on the ground.’

“We do not agree with the division of citizens into a café society and a pub society. We frequent both and we meet great people in pubs as well as in cafés. To show that Slovakia is not a racist country, we are organising the Slovak Pub festival.”

For more information about the festival, visit the Slovenská krčma website.

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The Labour party, currently the UK’s official opposition, has announced the launch of a one-day festival this summer to capitalise on the popularity of its leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

Labour Live 2018, which will take place on Saturday 16 June – the same date as Kili’s Stone Free at The O2 – at White Hart Lane recreation ground in north London, will feature “loads of great bands, speakers from across literature and politics, campaign training, food and drink [and] kids’ entertainment”.

Music will come courtesy of the Magic Numbers, Rae Morris and Jermain Jackman, with senior Labour politicians including Corbyn, shadow chancellor John McDonnell and shadow international development minister Kate Osamor also confirmed.

“If you’re a Labour supporter looking to meet other supporters, a music buff looking for an affordable summer festival or a family looking for a great day out, we’ve got you covered,” promise organisers.

The launch of the festival follows Corbyn’s appearance at Glastonbury 2017, where he received a rapturous reception for a speech decrying sexism, homophobia, inequality and anti-refugee sentiment.

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Barcelona festival Primavera Sound has condemned the arrests of more than a dozen Catalan politicians on the orders of the Spanish government, saying it stands “united” with all those who “suffered a violation of their fundamental civil rights” in today’s police action.

The paramilitary Civil Guard this morning raided government offices in Barcelona a bid to halt the planned 1 October vote on independence for Catalonia, detaining 14 officials, including the region’s vice-president, Oriol Junqueras, and seizing computer equipment and nearly 10m ballot papers.

Spain has also announced it is to take back much of the region’s devolved spending powers, in what Catalan president Carles Puigdemont says amounts to the suspension of self-government and the imposition of a “de facto state of emergency”.

Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy defended the crackdown, saying Spain “had to act”, and that there is “no democratic state in the world that would accept what these people are trying to do” (apparently forgetting there was a state-sanctioned referendum in Scotland almost exactly three years ago).

“We at Primavera Sound condemn any action that prevents the free and full exercise of democratic rights”

“Primavera Sound cannot and does not want to keep quiet about the events that have taken place over the past few days in Catalonia and especially what has taken place today in Barcelona, the city which hosts the festival,” reads a statement from Primavera Sound, issued this afternoon. “This is why we want to publicly manifest our support for all the institutions, bodies and people that in the last few hours have suffered a violation of their fundamental civil rights.

“Aside from ideologies and political inclinations, we at Primavera Sound condemn any action that prevents the free and full exercise of these democratic rights, and we urge all those who feel assaulted to take a serene, civic and peaceful stance in the face this adversity. Today we stand united.”

Football club FC Barcelona has also criticised the police action, saying it is committed to “the defence of the nation, to democracy, to freedom of speech and to self-determination, [and] condemns any act that may impede the free exercise of these rights”.

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Reeperbahn Festival has finalised its festival and conference agendas for 2017, announcing the dates, times and venues for all events, as well as a special conference strand – Raise Your Voice – focusing on music and political engagement ahead of the German general election on 24 September.

“Pop is (and always has been) political,” reads a statement from the popular music industry event, which returns to Hamburg from 20 to 23 September. “Bands and artists have addressed important sociopolitical issues in their songs, and since the 1960s pop music has provided the soundtrack, as well as support, for major social transformations.

“Nevertheless, when those in the entertainment world – including musicians and businesses in the music industry – stand up for what they believe in, they are often subject to public criticism. Why that is, and what the music world can do to raise its voice and take a stand without coming across as inauthentic – this is something that will be explored in several panel discussions.”

Said panel discussions include Musik Bewegt – Wie geht Haltung?, in which artists Herbert Grönemeyer (pictured) Ingo Pohlmann and Fetsum will join representatives from Sea Watch, Doctors Without Borders and Viva con Agua to discuss the impact of social and political engagement; and Pop Goes Politics, with Fetsum (who came to Germany as a refugee), Büro für Offensivkultur founder Heinz Ratz and Global Citizen Festival Hamburg organiser Carolin Albrecht, which covers protest and political engagement in the pop world.

Music in the Middle East, meanwhile, will focus on the influence of music in a region afflicted by crises and war, with artists Shahin Najafi and Yasmine Hamdan and Cooking Vinyl/Palestine Music Expo founder Martin Goldschmidt.

All festival and conference events can be found on the Reeperbahn Festival website or the iOS and Android apps.

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Members of the music community in Iran have written to the country’s recently reelected president, Hassan Rouhani, to demand an end to the arbitrary cancellation of concerts under pressure from religious conservatives.

According to the Center for Human Rights in Iran, since 2013 – when Rouhani was first elected on a platform of a more open, liberal society – numerous popular singers have seen their concerts cancelled at the last minute, with shows by females particularly affected.

Rouhani’s Iran was the most serious violator of artistic freedom in 2016, found a study by Freemuse, with artists frequently sentenced for ‘insulting the sacred’, ‘propaganda against the state’ or ‘spreading depravity’ by religious authorities. “Music has landed in the middle of the battlefield between President Rouhani’s administration and the Supreme Leader [cleric Ali Khamenei] and his religious institutions, where permissions to hold concerts given by the Ministry of Culture are withdrawn by religious authorities,” wrote the organisation.

https://www.iqmagazine.com/2017/02/artistic-freedom-threat-2016-freemuse/#.WYsumdMrLJ9

The Center for Human Rights in Iran, which describes itself as “working to protect and promote human rights in Iran”, says conservative Islamists have  frequently “justified their attacks on musicians by quoting vague statements and decrees by senior religious leaders. Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has himself often warned about the alleged dangers of music, saying it will ‘lead people away from the path of God’.”

The most recent cancellation was on 28 July, when singer Shahram Nazeri and his son, Hafez, were told their show in Quchan would no longer go ahead as the venue – a sports venue for local workers – “disrespects the sentiments of […] the people of Quchan” (no further explanation was given).

Just over two months earlier, Rouhani told state-controlled news agency ISNA he supports the music industry, saying his reelection proved “that everyone [in Iran] is at peace with music”.

The most recent appeal to the president was on 2 August, when musicians’ association House of Music wrote to Rouhani asking for his support.

“Are the cancellations of lawful concerts not a clear example of the violation of the rights of musicians?”

“Ever since accepting the heavy responsibility of being a president, you have raised the issue of citizens’ rights and the need for all to enjoy and defend their legitimate rights,” the letter reads. “This has been reassuring and a great source of hope for many, especially in the music industry.

“But the question is: Are the cancellations of lawful concerts not a clear example of the violation of the rights of musicians as citizens? Who is accountable for the trampling of these rights? The government should be transparent in its support for artists by exposing and prosecuting [those] responsible for preventing concerts.”

The House of Music letter follows another petition, signed by more than 500 artists and producers, sent to Rouhani on 31 July, which also asked for a fund to be set up to reimburse musicians who have seen their shows axed.

“Preventing licensed musical performances is clearly breaking the law and an act of sabotage, and the perpetrators must be prosecuted,” said the signatories.

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If you’re reading this, chances are you already know that last weekend saw 135,000 people descend on Worthy Farm in Somerset for the return of the world’s largest greenfield music event, Glastonbury Festival.

Aside from the big names in contemporary music and performing arts that have, since the early ’80s, been the festival’s trademark, Glastonbury 2017 served up a slate of distinctly political programming – ‘Was this the wokest Glastonbury ever?’, asks The Guardian’s Hadley Freeman; ‘staying woke’ meaning being aware of, or acting on, perceived social injustice – with the buzz around Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn arguably eclipsing that of musical headliners Radiohead, Foo Fighters and Ed Sheeran.

Writes Alexis Petridis:

Politicians have been turning up to Glastonbury for years, but this year the leader of the opposition was among the most hotly anticipated attractions: when he arrived on site, his Land Rover was mobbed by fans. In fact, it was hard to escape Corbyn: if Glastonbury 2017 had an unofficial anthem, it was his name sung to the tune of the White Stripes’ ‘Seven Nation Army’.

You heard “oh, Jeremy Corbyn” everywhere: at the silent disco, during Radiohead’s Friday night headlining set, midway through the Other stage appearance by rapper Stormzy, who gamely joined in. When Corbyn finally gave a speech – in a stunning piece of billing that could only happen at Glastonbury, he appeared between hip-hop duo Run the Jewels and Southampton’s foremost R&B loverman Craig David – the crowd brought the entire area around the Pyramid stage to a standstill: in some of its furthest reaches, you occasionally got the sense that some people were eager for him to stop talking so they could get on with the more pressing business of singing “oh, Jeremy Corbyn”.

The BBC’s music reporter, Mark Savage, says the leader of the opposition – who earlier this month denied prime minister Theresa May a parliamentary majority – was, with a few exceptions, “given a rockstar welcome” by the left-leaning Glastonbury crowd, receiving “loud cheers for comments on equality (‘We need to challenge sexism in our society, and homophobia, and any form of discrimination that goes on’) and refugees (‘Let’s support them in their hour of need and not see them as a threat and danger”‘).”

Performers, too, got on board with Corbynmania: Unlike the sombre atmosphere at last year’s event, amid which Britain voted to exit the EU, many artists seemed buoyed by his presence, with Radiohead optimistically predicting a Corbyn premiership (“See you later, Theresa. Just shut the door on your way out”), while spoken-word artist Kate Tempest mocked May’s ‘strong and stable’ slogan by accusing the prime minister of leading the UK “into ruin”.

Satirical candidate Lord Buckethead, meanwhile – who stood against May in her Maidenhead seat on a platform of, among other policies, nationalising Adele –  got a bigger cheer than the band he introduced, Sleaford Mods.

If Glastonbury 2017 had an unofficial anthem, it was Corbyn’s name sung to the tune of ‘Seven Nation Army’

However, despite the best efforts of Michael Eavis, festival founder and Corbyn supporter, his man doesn’t look any closer to Downing Street: May this morning formed a deal with to stay in power with the backing of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, meaning Eavis’s dream of UK nuclear disarmament is off the agenda for the foreseeable future.

Glastonbury Festival will return in 2019, following a ‘fallow year’ in 2018 to give Worthy Farm a chance to recover. Or, if you’re Daily Star ‘journalist’ Sabrina Dougall, Glastonbury 2018 has been CANCELLED because of a TIDAL WAVE of rubbish:

Glastonbury 2018 CANCELLED as boozed-up Brits leave TIDAL WAVE of rubbish after Katy Perry and Jeremy Corbyn leave https://t.co/mK0mZfu8qD pic.twitter.com/1BldvSBrOh

— Daily Star (@dailystar) June 26, 2017

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Gig-going remains one of the most popular activities for young people in the UK, but 18–34-year-olds are seeing live music for different reasons to the previous generation, new data suggests.

Compared to generation-Xers (35–45-year-olds), millennials (18–34s) have a “stronger moral compass”, according to a new survey by Eventbrite, placing a greater emphasis on events and artists that align with their own beliefs and values.

According to the survey – conducted in partnership with research agency Crowd DNA – nearly half (49%) of millennials have attended a live music event in the past 12 months. However, “unlike gen X,” says Eventbrite, “millennials treat live events as a form of self-expression [and] self-improvement” – with 69% saying they see attending a show as “the best way to show other people what they stand for” (compared to 59% of gen-Xers) and 78% more likely to attend a festival featuring artists who are “affecting positive change through their music” (compared to 69% of gen-Xers).

Additionally, 20% of millennials have in the past year attended an event specifically billed as supporting a particular cause.

“Attending live music events as a form of self-expression is very much a millennial trait”

“Millennials and gen X both attend live music events to escape day-to-day reality and connect with like minded people, but it’s millennials who have a stronger moral compass: three quarters choose music events which align to their own beliefs and values, and 78% attend to express support for the artist’s beliefs and values,” reads the survey, which had a sample audience of British adults aged 18 to 45.

“Attending live music events as a form of self-expression is very much a millennial trait, it was found, and artists who promote positive change are more appealing for millennials.”

The new research follows a similar Eventbrite survey of millennials in the US, which concluded that “the current political climate is driving a deep desire for Americans to connect with each other, their communities and the world, and that they see live events as an incredible way to do that”.

Eventbrite, the world’s largest self-service ticketing platform, acquired Ticketfly from Pandora for US$200m earlier this month.

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