Report Reveals Severe Loss of Work for British Musicians Following Brexit

More than a quarter of respondents (27.8%) had been unable to undertake any work in the EU after January 2021

The UK-based Independent Society of Musicians (ISM) has recently released a report that considers the impacts of Brexit on British musicians. The report is the first of its kind and uses data from more than 400 musicians who have worked in Europe since January 2021.

The report's findings indicate that Brexit has had a significant effect on the ability of British musicians to work in Europe. Almost half of respondents (47.4%) said that their work in the EU had declined after January 2021, and more than a quarter (27.8%) said they had not been able to take any work in the EU as a result of Brexit.

39% of respondents said they had been forced to turn down offers of work after January 1, 2021, and 40% had seen their work canceled. Difficulty securing visas and work permits was often cited as the source of this disruption.

You can read the report in full here.

"UK music is a great success story and we are rightly proud of it," said Deborah Annetts, the Chief Executive of the ISM. "The Chancellor has correctly identified the creative industries as a potential growth market. However, as [the report] shows, the government has been asleep on the job. It could have tackled many of the issues facing the music sector by itself and made Brexit work. It chose not to."

"Brexit should never have meant that musicians cannot share their talent freely with our closest neighbors," she added. "This damages our country, our soft power and our precious creative talent pipeline. Music is worth £5.8 billion to the UK economy and the wider creative industries are worth £116 billion. We call on the government to take action and make Brexit work for the wellbeing of musicians and our economy."

"Since Brexit, British musicians have struggled to develop or maintain careers in Europe thanks to the government’s ineffectiveness in negotiating the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU and its continued unwillingness to renegotiate provisions for visas and touring," said mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston.

"The impact of this cannot be overstated, and we as an industry are deeply grateful to the ISM for continuing to fight our corner with an intransigent government which isn’t willing to recognise that the UK’s music industry is a global powerhouse, the generator of both soft power and significant economic benefit into the Treasury’s coffers."