A leading music industry lobby group has claimed that live music events such as concerts and festivals will still be safe to go ahead this summer.
But this is all providing the UK government aids in doing so.
A report by UK Music – Let The Music Play: Save Our Summer – said it was confident it could manage health risks if the government set a start date for the industry and introduces proper coronavirus (COVID-19) cancellation insurance.
Its chief executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin acknowledged the pandemic was still raging, but insisted there was “an end point in sight”.
He continued: “Government is rolling out the vaccine and is openly speculating about returning to normal by the spring – but there is a serious risk that even if this proves to be a reality, lack of notice and available insurance options will mean much of the 2021 summer music season can’t go ahead.”
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The report – which has been published today ahead of a hearing in which music festivals will give evidence on their future to a group of MPs on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee – also called for targeted financial support, an extension to the VAT rate reduction on tickets, a rollover of 2020 Local Authority licence fees to 2021, and an extension to business rates relief.
UK Music unveils new report, Let The Music Play: Save Our Summer 2021, outlining strategy to restart live music industry when safe. #SaveOurSummer2021
According to statistics by UK Music and Live Music Industry Venues & Entertainment (LIVE), the live music industry is significant business that generated £4.7 billion for the UK economy in 2019 alone.
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But it has been almost completely closed since March, and as a devastating result of the coronavirus pandemic and necessary social distancing measures, up to 170,000 jobs throughout the industry as a whole were expected to be lost by Christmas.
Parklife Festival
And the sector is likely to be one of the last to reopen after the pandemic too.
This has meant that there are increasing fears that many venues will have closed for good, and that there will be a lack of skilled staff available when audiences are finally ready to return.
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Jess Murphy – a violinist who organised one of a number of musicians’ protests nationwide in October Let Music Live – said that the ongoing pandemic, along with the complications of touring caused by Brexit, were “absolutely” the perfect storm for the industry.
She continued: “As it stands with the Brexit deal, we don’t know how we can work in the European Union.
“We are desperate for the government to take this seriously and try and help us maybe in the form of some kind of culture and creative passport that allows you to work for say a year at a time, rather than a situation that would be dreadfully difficult to negotiate, where every single person would have to negotiate with every single country if they wanted to do a tour.
“It would get impossible because on a tour you need to be in maybe four different countries at a time just in a week for example.”
You can read the full Let The Music Play: Save Our Summer report via the UK Music website here.
Boyzone to reunite for exclusive New Year’s Eve special on the BBC
Danny Jones
2025 has very much been the year of the comeback – be it Oasis, Britpop fashion in general, or short bobs and pixie cuts – so it’s only fitting that we round off the calendar with one last reunion, as throwback boyband Boyzone are set to feature on a TV special on the BBC this New Year’s Eve.
Turns out ‘All That I Need’ to make a year memorable is a load of 1990s nostalgia.
Now, obviously, despite plenty of other music names enjoying a second renaissance over the past 12 months or so, nothing is ever going to be quite as big as the Oasis Live ’25 reunion tour.
However, if you asked us to guess which group from the era were also going to reunite this year back in January, there’s not a chance we would’ve said Boyzone.
Boyzone are telling us about coming back together for one final run in their most unforgettable concerts yet 🎤
After news first began circulating earlier this week, it has now been confirmed that musician turned presenter Ronan Keating will be getting back together with two of his former bandmates.
Joining the 48-year-old for ‘Ronan & Friends: A New Year’s Eve Party’, ex-Boyzone members Keith Duffy and Shane Lynch are part of an exciting live music lineup.
Other names include actor and singer, Shona McGarty, who recently starred on season 25 of I’m A Celeb, as well as fellow 90s pop artist Louise Redknapp and singer-songwriter Calum Scott.
The exclusive reunion comes after the success of the recently aired Boyzone: No Matter What documentary show.
Spread across three parts on Sky, the docuseries (named after their hit song from 1998) looks back on the career and journey up the charts back in their heyday, all the way up to the present. After seemingly striking a chord with fans and the lads themselves, it looks like they’re not done after all…
Yes, not only is the festive TV special going to see three of the original members performing alongside each other again, but
Here’s hoping that turns into a springboard for something even bigger, and we get a Manchester arena show sometime soon.
As for the programme itself, ‘Ronan & Friends: A New Year’s Eve Party’ will be broadcast on BBC One and made available on BBC iPlayer from Wednesday, 31 December 2025.
A candlelit Queen tribute concert is returning to Manchester
Danny Jones
Yes, you read that right: a candlelit concert dedicated to the one and only Queen, with a spectacular West End Cast and a talented live rock band, is coming to Manchester city centre in January.
In fact, it’s coming home, as this wonderful event started right here in 0161 back in 2021.
Concerts by Candlelight themselves host concerts up and down the country at various points throughout the year, but their much-loved ‘Queen by Candlelight‘ special knows all about lighting up Manc venues.
Having since gone on to become an internationally acclaimed live concert experience, we’re glad we still get to see the ‘Princes of the Universe’ on our doorstep.
Credit: Concerts by Candlelight (supplied)
With the likes of Bridgewater Hall and the magical Manchester Monastery all having played host to the promotion on many ocassions, this time Queen by Candlelight is coming to the legendary Manchester Opera House in the new year.
One of our most historic and legendary theatres, it’s only fitting, really, that they be chosen to welcome a night of equally iconic tunes.
But it’s worth reminding more casual fans that these aren’t just British rock and pop anthems; Queen‘s discography is one that still has global recognition to this day.
That’s why this specific show has been taken to virtually every corner of the world, with the incredibly talented cast of singers and musicians delighting audiences in Dubai, Australia, New Zealand and New York, to domestic crowds here in town and down in London’s West End.
‘Queenies’ or ‘Darlings’, as Freddie Mercury used to call them, can expect all the big hits, from ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘We Are The Champions’, to ‘It’s a Kind of Magic’ and ‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ and plenty more from the back catalogue.
Here’s a glimpse of what’s in store this coming January:
With tickets already flying out fast, we really would recommend securing your seats early before they inevitably sell out.
To quote the promoters themselves, “this spectacular celebration of Queen’s biggest hits is guaranteed to rock you.”
Coming to the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday, 6 January, you can book your tickets for Queen by Candlelight right HERE.
And if you’ve never been to one of their candlelit events before, you only need to see how much of a ball we had at their country event earlier this year to find out how much fun they are…
Emily Sergeant -
5th January 2021 
