UK Music chief executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin has urged the government to increase music industry support following Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spending Review.

Njoku-Goodwin, who also today shared his thoughts on Brexit with Music Week, welcomed the announcement of a £4 billion levelling up fund, saying he’s hopeful that it “will be a much-needed boost for the creative sector”.

He singled out music venues for special mention, as the coronavirus pandemic restrictions continue to threaten the UK’s ecosystem.

Njoku-Goodwin said: “We look forward to engaging with the Government to explore how that fund can be used to ensure the music industry helps drive growth the country needs and that we all want to see. Music and music venues are integral to the local economies of towns and cities everywhere. We hope this fund could be used to further support the vital role they already play.”

He continued: “With the right support to help the music industry get back on its feet, we are determined be at the forefront of the post-pandemic economic and cultural recovery. The music industry contributed £5.8 billion a year to the economy and sustained almost 200,000 jobs pre-Covid. We are keen to get our live venues back in action as swiftly as possible to spread some joy and deliver a shot in the arm for our economy.”

Njoku-Goodwin also welcomed the new support package for tourism with a new City Of Culture competition.

“More than 12 million music tourists spent £4.7 billion in 2019 at venues across the UK,” he said. “A new City Of Culture competition will help shine the spotlight on some of the vibrant and diverse music scenes that make our venues such a magnet for visitors from home and abroad.”

The Music Venue Trust also issued its own response to the Spending Review.

“Music Venue Trust has presented a series of proposals to the government which are about effective use of public funding to restart the grassroots music venue sector and enable full recovery from the Covid-19 crisis," said CEO Mark Davyd. "We welcome the announcement of the levelling up fund, and commitments to invest in infrastructure and communities. There is a significant opportunity to invest in resilience and improvements to our grassroots music sector and we look forward to working with government to prioritise these opportunities to build back better.”

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