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The music industry has broadly welcomed the recent shake up at the Department of Culture, Media & Sport. Tory man Ed Vaizey, who kept his culture brief when his party formed a government last week being was appointed a junior Culture Minister and will report in to not one but two government departments. As well as reporting the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt in the Department, he will also have a line to the Department For Business, Innovation & Skills, and its top man Vince Cable. This has been welcomed by lobbyists in the music business who often have to double up their lobbying efforts, because the cultural dimension of the music world falls under the DCMS's remit while the creative economy really falls on the BIS, and on many issues, including copyright extension, piracy and business support form smaller music businesses, it's not entirely clear which government department should take the lead. Which can let ministers pass the buck. It's hoped that the nature of Vaizey's new role will mean cultural businesses will have one entry point when talking to government, and deciding whether something is primarily a cultural or business issue can be his problem. Live music Elsewhere in political shenanigans, the new coalition government has pledged to "cut red tape to encourage the performance of more live music". Although this commitment is rather vague in its wording, it is hoped it means some of the measures but forward by the Liberal Democrats under the last parliament to reduce the licensing obligations for promoters of small gigs will be on the agenda. Labour supported some reform of their 2003 Licensing Act, but not as much as promoted by the Lib Dems in their unsuccessful private members Live Music Bill. The Tories said nothing about grass roots live music in their manifesto, but it looks like it's possible their Liberal partners might persuade them to give some quality time to reviewing live music licensing rules anyway. Additional reporting by CMU Network
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