The Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has distanced himself from the “crass” Government campaign which aims to encourage people to retrain to a career in cybersecurity. This comes on a day where the Arts Council have announced the 1,385 English venues which will share £257 million distributed by the Culture Recovery …

Rishi Sunak, The Chancellor of the Exchequer, has been under fire over the last couple of days, as his recent message seemed to suggest that those in the creative industry should retrain and find other jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. The message from ITV News on Twitter …

In disturbing Concert related news, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds – Alive On Stage will now tour the UK in 2022. Originally planned for March/April 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic has been blamed for the rescheduling and it remains to be seen how this will affect …

The UK Government has split the £3.36m portion of the Culture Recovery Fund allocated to grassroots venues between 135 venues, with four companies receiving the maximum £80,000. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are managing their own emergency funding, with £188m to be divided across the entire arts sector. The news …

With 2020 marking ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris’ 50th year in broadcasting, the legendary presenter is to gather a group of musicians together to record his favourite single ‘Stand By Me’ in a fundraising move supporting the charity Help Musicians. The original track was recorded by Ben E. King on 27th October, 1960 …

Status Quo have this morning issued a statement confirming the cancellation of almost all of their 2020 tour, originally planned for the last quarter of this year. The only dates to survive are the three French November dates, though these must be in serious jeopardy too. The statement reads: “It …

The Prime Minister has delayed the return to indoor performances in England due to the increase in rates of COVID-19 infection in hotspots in parts of the UK. In an address to the nation today, Boris Johnson said “We are postponing changes for at least a fortnight. Indoor performances will …

The eastern German regions of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt are using funding of €990,000 to identify a framework for how gigs and other events can be held “without posing a danger for the population”. The regions, where capacity for events is limited to 1,000 people, is to allow events with no …

The DCMS (Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) has released a report which criticises the UK Government response to the impact on the UK culture sector of the COVID-19 crisis, saying it was “vague and slow-coming.” The report states that Boris Johnson’s Government failed to recognise the size of …

At a Downing Street news conference this morning (17 July 2020) the Prime Minster unveiled the plan for a “more significant return to normality” by Christmas, with a return to indoor live performances to restart in England in August, subject the the successful completion of pilots. It was also stated that …