In October of last year, the UK government brought in the Live Music Act, a change in legislation that allowed venues with a capacity of under 200 to host live amplified music without need of a license. We posted this at the time:

“The change in legislation is part of a government move to free small businesses from red tape, and according to the BBC, could enable 13,000 more venues in the UK to start holding live music events – from a selfish perspective, it’s also a coup for our friends at Phonica Records. Under the new law, live music will be allowed between the hours of 8am and 11pm.

“The driving force behind the change was a private member’s bill, introduced by Liberal Democrat MP Don Foster on behalf of Lord Clement Jones, his colleague in the party. You can read more on the Live Music Act here.”

Now, it seems that the Live Music Act may be expanded to fit venues with a capacity of up to 500. Music Week reports that a proposal to expand the bill has been issued, “in a response from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to its consultation on entertainment deregulation”.

When asked about the changes, Phil Little of the Live Music Forum admitted that “they are more than we hoped for. However, it is plain that much of the damage to the scene has already been done. Without an improvement in audience attendance across the board we have an awful long way to go to match the vibrance of live music performance in previous decades.”