5. Debate on the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Report: 'Turn up the volume: an inquiry into the live music industry'

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:29 pm on 3 February 2021.

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Photo of David Melding David Melding Conservative 3:29, 3 February 2021

I think you'll be relieved to hear I'm not going to speak to all 31 of the recommendations. Can I just highlight a few that I particularly want to pick out? The first one I want to start with is that we should celebrate our bilingual nationhood more, in terms of what we do in the artistic world, and that there is too sharp a binary divide between English and Welsh language events, and Creative Wales should encourage much more collaboration between the sectors. So, even in predominantly English-speaking programmes, you could have some Welsh bands as well. And I think that's a really important insight, and I'm pleased that that was made to us in evidence.

I think the need for a music strategy, so that we promote internationally brand Wales, both home and abroad, is a really key recommendation because I think we have a huge amount to offer. And if you look at, certainly, some areas of the world that have become very popular for high-end tourism, it's often their artistic offer that is particularly enticing. And I think we have a rich heritage, and there's a lot out there, and we can build on that. And then looking more locally, as well as a national strategy we need local music boards—and I'm pleased to commend Cardiff, which is ahead of the game here and is already developing one—that include the whole sector, and not just about the promotion of the creative side of music, but also looking at some of the more difficult issues, like licensing, which has already been mentioned, and also even what's in the school curriculum, because music is increasingly frozen out. I heard recently about jazz being axed from A-level music in some places, which is a slightly bizarre thing to do, one would have thought. But these are the sorts of issues that the local music boards could look at.

I am concerned about the agent of change principle not always being paramount. Because I do feel that, as we quite properly develop our inner-city areas and town centres, there'll be more need to do that probably, as a result of COVID, as we need to repurpose some of these formerly retail areas, in particular, but with the danger that the development of more housing in these areas leads to traditional venues for music being squeezed out, or being subject to increasingly onerous requirements. So, I think this needs to be carefully looked at.

And finally, can I just say on some post-COVID things, this is work in progress, but it does seem that we're going to be living with COVID—in a much more manageable way, one hopes, because of the vaccines—but we will be living with it for some time? And I did feel that not all our witnesses, when I put questions to them, like, 'Could you see the use of vaccination certificates, for instance, being part of opening up music venues again?', I'm not sure people have really started to think about this yet, and I think they need to, and indeed the Government and local government need to as well. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer.