The Week in Light & Sound
- Details
Quarantine Regulations - Performing arts professionals are no longer entitled to a quarantine exemption when arriving in the UK, following a tightening of travel restrictions. As of now, anyone working in the performing arts that enters the UK, including performers, creatives and technical staff, must self-isolate for 10 days, according to regulations confirmed by the government.
Performing arts is one of eight sectors that has been removed from the list of professions that qualify for quarantine exemptions, alongside television and film production workers, journalists and advertising professionals. The government has given no indication of the duration of this change.
People working in the performing arts were added to the list of exemptions for England in December. The exemption covered individuals travelling for a paid work engagement in the UK, with both international and British citizens eligible. However, with the UK now in further lockdown measures, the Department for Transport has reduced the number of exemptions and promised to ramp up enforcement checks.
Professions that have remained on the exemption list include elite sportspeople and healthcare professionals, as well as people working for the BBC’s broadcasting transmission network.
Work Permits - The Musicians’ Union has written to prime minister Boris Johnson, urging him to negotiate a solution to European touring arrangements for performers as soon as possible, as the government and the EU continue to blame each other for the failure to reach an agreement.
Following a commitment made during Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this week, in which Johnson said he would convene a meeting on the issue, the MU is now calling on the prime minister to make progress quickly in order to allow creative work in Europe to resume at the earliest opportunity. MU general secretary Horace Trubridge stressed the "urgent need" for a reciprocal deal that would allow performers and creative professionals to tour without needing work permits.
Royalties Move - Fleetwood Mac co-founder Mick Fleetwood has become the latest musician to sell the rights to their biggest hits. He follows a series of high-profile stars including Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Debbie Harry who have sold the rights to their back catalogues in lucrative deals in recent months. Fleetwood's interests in his band's recordings have been acquired by BMG in a deal that covers more than 300 songs - including Dreams, The Chain and Go Your Own Way. Fleetwood says the deal with BMG is a “wonderfully inspiring marriage between two creative partners”. Details of how much the deal is worth have not been revealed.
In The Saleroom - A demo featuring unheard tracks from the band that went on to become Radiohead is to be auctioned. The five members met at school in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, and initially formed On A Friday, before going on to achieve global success with albums including OK Computer and The Bends. The cassette demo, which had been given to a friend of the band in the 1990s, is going on sale online. It includes handwritten notes and a label design by frontman Thom Yorke and is expected to fetch £2,000, Omega Auctions said.
Farewell - Sylvain Sylvain, guitarist with 1970s rock band New York Dolls, has died at the age of 69. "As most of you know, Sylvain battled cancer for the past two and a half years," his wife, Wanda O'Kelley Mizrahi, wrote on his Facebook page. "While we grieve his loss, we know that he is finally at peace and out of pain. Please crank up his music, light a candle, say a prayer and let's send this beautiful doll on his way." Sylvain's death leaves only one surviving member of the New York Dolls' original line-up from their 1973 debut album, frontman David Johansen.
(Jim Evans)
19 January 2021
