The UK’s exit from the European Union (Brexit) was a hugely contentious issue, but one thing people in the music industry agree on is that there have been some bad after-effects for touring artists.
“Soaring costs and red tape,” as industry body UK Music puts it in the announcement of an open letter to leaders of the UK and European Union.
More than 550 groups and individuals have signed the letter, which calls for the UK and EU to deal with issues including “increased costs and bureaucracy due to requirements for visas, work permits and carnets for touring UK artists, merchandising costs and the need to navigate complex cabotage requirements for trucks and hauliers that support UK tours in the EU”.
But this is also about European artists wanting to tour the UK: the red tape sticks both ways. The signatories hope that an upcoming UK-EU summit to discuss their relationship will include talks on these challenges.
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