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UK Music requests government taskforce as Disney’s Shanghai park reports sellout

UK Music has called on the government to form a new music industry taskforce, while Disney’s reopened Shanghai park reports sell-out week…

UK Music

UK Music has urged the government to set up a new taskforce to revive the music industry.

The announcement comes in response to the UK Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy, which outlines plans to work with stakeholders who will be unable to resume activity until Step Three of its roadmap – most likely later this year.

The UK government released a 50-page document yesterday to spell out how England can move towards easing lockdown measures, which have been in place since March following the COVID-19 outbreak.

The umbrella body for the UK music industry has outlined areas the Government and proposed new taskforce could work with the industry to support its return.

These points include the Government providing a proposed date when the industry could consider reviving organised concerts, gigs and festivals. UK Music said it is “vital” for promoters, musicians and music fans to have more visibility about the future so they can plan ahead, pointing to Germany and Ireland as examples where organisers have been told large events will not return until at least the end of August.

The organisation has also called for the continuation of the full range of government support packages such as the furlough scheme, support for the self-employed, business loans and other measures.

With July marked as the first possible point at which the hospitality sector could return, live music events are effectively ruled out for the summer.

UK Music chair Tom Watson said: “These latest proposals on the easing of the coronavirus lockdown are missing the clarity that the UK music industry so desperately needs.

“There is a risk the British music industry will be left behind as other countries come out of lockdown. We cannot afford that to happen to the UK’s world-leading music industry, which is really suffering.”

Last week, UK Music revealed the contribution of live music alone to the UK economy is set to drop in 2020 from an estimated £1.1bn to just £200m – a reduction of £900m, in a “catastrophic” blow to the industry.

Disney

Disney chief executive Bob Chapek said tickets for the Shanghai Disneyland Resort, which reopened on Monday, are “essentially sold out” for the rest of the week.

The park reopened on Monday after being closed since January, and Chapek said the plan is to increase attendance by 5,000 guests per week.

The Chinese government has limited the theme park’s attendance to 30 per cent capacity, or around 24,000 guests. However, according to report from CNN, the actual attendance was well below the 30 per cent maximum, saying Disney cast members “far outnumbered the guests.”

Chapek said during an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Alley: “We have a few tickets available on certain days, but essentially everything’s gone. This is really indicative of the love that consumers have for our brand across the world.”

Last week, Disney reported it has lost an estimated $1.4bn in the last three months due primarily to a loss of ticketing revenue from COVID-19 forcing the closure of its theme parks.

Festivals

More than 85 per cent of ticketholders for Denmark’s most popular music festival Roskilde have held onto their passes for the 2021 event.

Last month, the Danish government extended its ban on all events over 1,000-capacity until August 31, which led to the cancellation of the 150,000-capacity event.

Ticketholders had the option to choose to transfer their tickets to the 2021 edition or request a refund by May 8, and, according to the festival’s organisers, less than 15 per cent chose to do so.

Elsewhere, Primavera Sound in Spain has cancelled its 20th anniversary edition after initially being rescheduled from June to August due to COVID-19.

Tickets remain valid for Primavera Sound Barcelona 2021, and will include “special benefits” for all those who decide to keep them, or refunds can be requested from June 3.