Creative Industries Council

⚡ Our latest newsletter is just out, jam-packed with news, research and opportunities for the UK creative sector. This issue features projects by UK Music Ltd, Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, Polly Mackenzie and Ian Taylor of the University of the Arts London, Creative UK, Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Campaign for the Arts, University of Warwick,  Arts University Bournemouth, the University for the Creative Arts and Trevor Davis, British Business Bank and B7 | Marketing Agency, Create Central and West Midlands Combined Authority, Tileyard North, Department for Business and Trade and the University of East London School of Arts and Digital Industries. https://lnkd.in/eVCEu52g

📢 Here's our monthly round-up of opportunities for UK creative organisations, businesses and freelancers. If there is an opportunity we've missed, please add it in the comments. 🎵 Two opportunities from BPI (British Phonographic Industry) and partners: - Grow Music is a 12-week scale-up and growth programme for London-based companies, working in music technology or music-adjacent technologies, innovations and new ideas. -Angel Investing School is open to professionals from underrepresented backgrounds who are working at a senior level in the music industry, and delivered by Andy Ayim MBE. https://lnkd.in/e4VjDJKG   💸 Growth Guarantee Scheme - British Business Bank scheme to support access to finance for UK smaller businesses, including term loans, overdrafts, asset finance, invoice finance and asset-based lending. https://lnkd.in/esKhVKg4   ✒ British Film Institute (BFI) London Film Festival 2024 Critics Mentorship Programme - giving underrepresented voices a chance to be mentored by media professionals and have their work published. Apply by 1 August.  https://lnkd.in/eguUmXqT   📺 ScreenSkills High-end TV Leaders of Tomorrow -three-year programme focused on providing a high level of support to mid-level professionals working in high-end TV (HETV). Apply by 11 August.  https://lnkd.in/eeHErFQd   💡 Innovate UK Investor Partnerships: SME round 8 - UK businesses working in the creative industries or XR for digital mental health can apply for grant funding alongside private investment from selected investor partners. Apply by 14 August. https://lnkd.in/eVrzkHZP.   🗃 BFI National Lottery Innovation Challenge Fund for AI in Screen Archives - seeking applications for ideas which would advance skills, insight and capacity in screen archives. Apply by 5 September.  https://lnkd.in/eeW-_fEB

More than 19.2 million domestic and overseas music fans travelled to attend gigs and festivals across the UK in 2023 - a 33% increase from the previous year, new research from UK Music Ltd reveals. Music tourism spending was also up 21%, reaching £8 billion – an increase of 21%. This includes the money fans spend on their ticket, on-site spend, travel, accommodation, and meals while travelling to events, as well as money spent indirectly through the value chain, including costs such as fencing and security or a restaurant paying for ingredients. There was also a 22% increase in employment sustained by music tourism. Most of the rise in attendance was driven by domestic music fans, with numbers up by just over a third. The number of overseas visitors dropped slightly from 1.053 million to 1.014 million. The report also highlights that despite the growth in music tourism, independent festivals and grassroots music venues are still struggling with rising costs and changes in ticket-buying habits. The Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) reports that 50 UK festivals have completely closed or been postponed or cancelled for 2024, while the Music Venue Trust (MVT) reports that 125 venues in 2023 either shut or stopped live music. https://lnkd.in/eveZqrxS

A review of the state of the arts in the UK has been published in a new report by Campaign for the Arts and The University of Warwick. The report - launched at Westminster with speeches by speakers including new Department for Culture, Media and Sport minister Christopher Bryant - examines five ‘health metrics’:  funding, provision, education, engagement and employment. It found that while there is high public engagement in the arts, the UK has one of the lowest levels of government spending on culture among European nations. Other findings included: • Tax relief for the creative industries increased by 649% between 2009-10 and 2022-23. In 2017-18 this investment exceeded the DCMS’ core funding of cultural organisations for the first time.  • The income mix of Arts Council England’s ‘National Portfolio’ changed, with public funding decreasing 10%, while contributed income (from private donations/ sponsorship) and earned income both went up by 5%. • Extra-large venues saw the biggest drop in event numbers in 2020 but made the strongest post-pandemic recovery, while also increasing ticket prices as inflation rose.  By contrast, in 2018 and 2019 growth in event numbers was driven entirely by small venues, but in 2023 there were 24% fewer events in these venues and average ticket prices were 22% lower in real terms. • Films and cinemas generate the biggest share of arts attendances in all four UK nations. • Since 2010 the share of GCSE entries in arts subjects has declined by 47%. • The Cultural Sector generally grew faster than the UK economy over the 2010s, but the drop in Gross Value Added (GVA) as a result of the pandemic (10.6%) was more than double that of the Creative Industries (4.9%). • Despite significant growth in GVA, median (PAYE) earnings in the Cultural Sector are consistently below the UK median for every sub-sector with the exception of Film, TV and Music.

A new research study is calling for leaders of small-to-medium creative businesses and organisations to share their experiences of accessing finance. The 'Access to Finance' study will capture perspectives on how creative companies and non-profits across the UK use finance and funding as they grow. They want to hear from organisations with a turnover of up to £50m and an employee headcount of up to 250. The research seeks to understand things like: • the extent to which finance is used by creative organisations • the types of finance being used • your reasons for accessing finance • the barriers you faced in the process • your type of organisation and key information about you e.g. your creative industry or region Creative UK is leading the project in partnership with the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and BVA BDRC, supported by the Creative Industries Council, Bloomberg Philanthropies and YouTube. Creative UK will share the findings with the new government, to boost understanding of the UK's creative economy and help shape policies which will support companies to grow. https://lnkd.in/eSCvM9wr

More than 400,000 jobs have been created in the creative industries since 2015, with a further 300,000 new jobs expected over the next five years.  But new research commissioned by the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre shows that student participation in creative further education (FE) across all four UK nations has dropped sharply, raising the risk that existing skills shortages in the creative industries will intensify. The report, by Heather Carey, Lesley Giles and Ben Hickman of Work Advance, also highlights a 'very low' take up of creative industries apprenticeships. https://lnkd.in/eNuKdZ2S

🌳 Here's our monthly round-up of the brilliant work being done by the creative industries to tackle the climate crisis. Anything we've missed? Please do share in the comments. 🧵 John Lewis & Partners has launched a new capsule collection as part of its mission to��design all its own brand products with circularity in mind by 2028. The products are made with materials that come from recycled or sustainable sources, are designed to be durable (e.g. using stronger stitching for seams) and can be recycled easily (e.g. being made from one material).  https://lnkd.in/e9_AnujT  ♻ A new report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation explores the role of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policies in building a circular economy for textiles.  https://lnkd.in/dXQyB927  ⏺ Vinyl editions of the new Coldplay album, Moon Music, will be made from plastic bottles recovered from consumer waste. It’s part of the band’s long-term strategy to reduce its environmental impact, which has also included planting a tree for every fan attending its live shows.  https://lnkd.in/dDv4ghTT 🚫  Creatives for Climate has published an Anti-Greenwash Guide for PR and communication agency leaders. https://lnkd.in/dy26xBx2 📗  Organisers of more than 60 cultural and sporting events across the UK are road-testing a new green code of practice developed by Julie's Bicycle and Event Vision:2025 this summer. The code aims to help event organisers reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2030 through measures such as lower fossil fuel, meat and dairy consumption and eliminating single-use plastic. https://lnkd.in/dDG9-Qxn 🔊 Ad Net Zero has published the first iteration of its Global Media Sustainability Framework – a series of voluntary industry standards to improve measurement of greenhouse gas emissions from digital, television, print, audio, outdoor, and cinema channels.  https://lnkd.in/ev4PWs3X

Work is underway to launch a new wave of government-backed creative research and development (R&D) programmes, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) has announced. The first phase of the Creative Industries Clusters programme generated £277 million in public and private co-investment, helped to launch 466 spin-outs, start-ups and scale-ups, and created 5,563 new jobs. Funded with a £56 million government investment and led by AHRC, the programme saw nine place-based creative (R&D) clusters - developed around the country. AHRC has secured an initial £50 million to launch the next phase of clusters. There will be an initial closed funding round for research organisations who've been invited to apply. An open round of investment will launch in Spring 2025, with the goal of launching a second tranche of new clusters in early 2026. In a blog on the AHRC website, AHRC Executive Chair and CIC member Christopher Smith said the latest phase of the programme would be "even more ambitious and adventurous", reaching new regions of the UK, and including new sectors of the creative economy. "Design, architecture, publishing, adtech and music are all areas which were not funded through phase one of the clusters programme, but there are many exciting possibilities to explore across the whole sector," he wrote. https://lnkd.in/eUBTB_xP

Live comedy in the UK contributes more than £1 billion to the economy every year, new research indicates. The research - conducted by Dr Sharon Lockyer of Brunel University London's Centre for Comedy Studies Research (CCSR), the Live Comedy Association and the British Comedy Guide - is the first to measure data on the value of the comedy industry, which supports an estimated 3,000 workers. Researchers surveyed 350 comedians, promoters, producers, venue managers and agents to gather data about income, ticket prices and sales. https://lnkd.in/epfxYhyh