The English arts and culture sector have received £257 Million in funding from governments allocated £1.57 billion culture recovery fund.
While the English music industry has been one of the hardest hit across the globe; the sector has continued to put pressure on government authorities to desperately assist the nightlife, arts and culture industries in order to survive as the furlough schemes previously put in place to provide funding came to an end in the beginning of October.
The furlough schemes are set to be replaced – as announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak – by the government’s new Winter Economy Plan / Jobs Scheme; which has been heavily criticized, as those in the industry can see clearly the glaring disinterest the government has shown regarding the arts.
Fury was sparked by Sunak’s recent comments to ITV in which the chancellor stated that musicians should “re-train” themselves to find new jobs amidst the pandemic, along with the complications surrounding the issues as to what qualifies as a “viable” job.
The response from the industry has been devastation as is quite clear, as once again it is stated that the funds distributed to assist the industry at large have been poorly handled and quite frankly, just simply not enough to keep the nightlife, arts and music industries alive as they are facing financial ruin.
However, in some good news; Arts Council England has distributed £257 Million to the live music sector, including theatres, orchestras, museums and music venues in order for the select cultural organisations to make it through the next six months as they battle to stay afloat. 1385 arts organisations have received the grants and “is only for Round 1 of grants applications that are under £1 million.”
Many live music venues and those working in nightlife will be benefitted by the grants, which is an extreme relief.
You can download the full list of grant awards in order to see the beneficiaries on Art Council England’s official website.
