Back at the very start of this year's
August Edinburgh extravaganza, the Edinburgh Tattoo featured a
musical tribute to the late David Bowie at Edinburgh Castle. A few
nights later, Edinburgh International Festival opened with Deep Time,
a spectacular audio-visual event that beamed state of art projections
onto Edinburgh Castle's walls to a thundering soundtrack of work by
Glasgow-based band, Mogwai.
Elsewhere, the Edinburgh International Book Festival programme featured readings from former Fall guitarist Brix Smith-Start and ex Dr Feelgood driving force, Wilko Johnson,while live music featured prominently in the festival's late-night Unbound strand. On the Fringe, live music fused with theatre in many shows.
This coming Monday, as EIF prepares for its final big bang at the Fireworks Concert, Edinburgh Licensing Board will meet at the City Chambers to discuss a proposed change to the City's legislation regarding amplified music being played or performed in venues large and small. Local law as it stands states that ‘The Board will always consider the imposition of a condition requiring amplified music from those premises to be inaudible in residential property.' This effectively means that if music can be heard beyond the four walls of a venue, those responsible are breaking the law.
Given that the David Bowie tribute and Deep Time were audible across the city, both events might be interpreted as having been in breach of a legislation which has made Edinburgh an international laughing stock. At Canadian Music Week in Toronto, music industry professionals greeted the revelation of Edinburgh's policy with laughter and derision. At Primavera Pro in Barcelona, the clause was mentioned in a panel on planning, whereupon a Spanish translator stopped translating, because it was, in their description, too stupid to be explained.
The proposed change in wording is the far more nuanced ‘Amplified music shall not be an audible nuisance in neighbouring residential premises.’ This is a subtle but significant change that acknowledges that music isn't inaudible. It is not, as some of those opposing the proposal seem to believe, a license to turn the volume up to eleven.
The Licensing Board's decision will be the culmination of a three month public consultation on the proposed change, which was drawn from a report by the UK wide music industry body, Music Venue Trust, and proposed by a body called Music is Audible. MIA is a CEC convened working party of musicians and music industry professionals working alongside councillors and CEC officials. I have sat on the MIA working group since its inception in 2014.
The proposal has the full support of the Musician's Union, the Scottish Music Industry Association, Music Venue Trust and the University of Edinburgh based Live Music Exchange, who conducted a live music census in 2015 that discovered that forty per cent of musicians who took part had their working lives negatively affected by the current legislation. One suspects that there is tacit support too from some of the city's key artistic stake-holders.
The main opposition to the proposal has come from some of the city's community councils, who, in the spirit of local democracy, are statutorily consulted by CEC. MIA approached each of Edinburgh's community councils offering presentations explaining the proposal. Several took up the offer.
Morningside Community Council wrote a very polite letter back explaining that as they had already decided to oppose the proposal, a presentation wouldn't be necessary. This is a pity, as it would have been interesting to hear representatives of an area that is hardly rock and roll central explain their position.
New Town and Broughton Community Council, however, have placed their thoughts on their website, and it makes for quite a read. As with NT&BCC's two submissions to the Licensing Forum, who are also statutory consultees, it contains little in the way of verifiable fact.
Perhaps those against the change should compare Edinburgh's current policy with other cities. In Adelaide, rules on live music provision have just been rewritten, ditching archaic bureaucratic red tape in a way that recognises the significance of a vibrant local live music scene, both to the economy and a city's artistic well-being. In London, following similar initiatives in Amsterdam, recently elected mayor Sadiq Khan is set to appoint a night czar, who will oversee the city's night-time economy in a way that protects it from encroaching gentrification.
On Monday, there is a real chance to begin the move towards an equally progressive approach to live music in Edinburgh. For the world's original festival city whose year round music scenes feed into official events, the Licensing Board must make their decision based on fact rather than some of the more fanciful objections raised. Edinburgh's music communities, who have as much ownership of local legislation as any other residents, can only hope common sense will prevail.
Both events were epic examples of the
significance of pop and rock music to international culture, and
EIF's contribution to this has already been highlighted on these
pages.
Elsewhere, the Edinburgh International Book Festival programme featured readings from former Fall guitarist Brix Smith-Start and ex Dr Feelgood driving force, Wilko Johnson,while live music featured prominently in the festival's late-night Unbound strand. On the Fringe, live music fused with theatre in many shows.
This coming Monday, as EIF prepares for its final big bang at the Fireworks Concert, Edinburgh Licensing Board will meet at the City Chambers to discuss a proposed change to the City's legislation regarding amplified music being played or performed in venues large and small. Local law as it stands states that ‘The Board will always consider the imposition of a condition requiring amplified music from those premises to be inaudible in residential property.' This effectively means that if music can be heard beyond the four walls of a venue, those responsible are breaking the law.
Given that the David Bowie tribute and Deep Time were audible across the city, both events might be interpreted as having been in breach of a legislation which has made Edinburgh an international laughing stock. At Canadian Music Week in Toronto, music industry professionals greeted the revelation of Edinburgh's policy with laughter and derision. At Primavera Pro in Barcelona, the clause was mentioned in a panel on planning, whereupon a Spanish translator stopped translating, because it was, in their description, too stupid to be explained.
The proposed change in wording is the far more nuanced ‘Amplified music shall not be an audible nuisance in neighbouring residential premises.’ This is a subtle but significant change that acknowledges that music isn't inaudible. It is not, as some of those opposing the proposal seem to believe, a license to turn the volume up to eleven.
The Licensing Board's decision will be the culmination of a three month public consultation on the proposed change, which was drawn from a report by the UK wide music industry body, Music Venue Trust, and proposed by a body called Music is Audible. MIA is a CEC convened working party of musicians and music industry professionals working alongside councillors and CEC officials. I have sat on the MIA working group since its inception in 2014.
The proposal has the full support of the Musician's Union, the Scottish Music Industry Association, Music Venue Trust and the University of Edinburgh based Live Music Exchange, who conducted a live music census in 2015 that discovered that forty per cent of musicians who took part had their working lives negatively affected by the current legislation. One suspects that there is tacit support too from some of the city's key artistic stake-holders.
The main opposition to the proposal has come from some of the city's community councils, who, in the spirit of local democracy, are statutorily consulted by CEC. MIA approached each of Edinburgh's community councils offering presentations explaining the proposal. Several took up the offer.
Morningside Community Council wrote a very polite letter back explaining that as they had already decided to oppose the proposal, a presentation wouldn't be necessary. This is a pity, as it would have been interesting to hear representatives of an area that is hardly rock and roll central explain their position.
New Town and Broughton Community Council, however, have placed their thoughts on their website, and it makes for quite a read. As with NT&BCC's two submissions to the Licensing Forum, who are also statutory consultees, it contains little in the way of verifiable fact.
Perhaps those against the change should compare Edinburgh's current policy with other cities. In Adelaide, rules on live music provision have just been rewritten, ditching archaic bureaucratic red tape in a way that recognises the significance of a vibrant local live music scene, both to the economy and a city's artistic well-being. In London, following similar initiatives in Amsterdam, recently elected mayor Sadiq Khan is set to appoint a night czar, who will oversee the city's night-time economy in a way that protects it from encroaching gentrification.
On Monday, there is a real chance to begin the move towards an equally progressive approach to live music in Edinburgh. For the world's original festival city whose year round music scenes feed into official events, the Licensing Board must make their decision based on fact rather than some of the more fanciful objections raised. Edinburgh's music communities, who have as much ownership of local legislation as any other residents, can only hope common sense will prevail.
The Herald, August 27th 2016
Ends
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