AIM CEO Paul Pacifico's Address at AIM Connected

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AIM

2019 was a very big year for AIM. At our AGM in October, after we had just successfully transitioned the AIM Awards to the Roundhouse, gaining national media attention for the first time, we launched our Knowledge Partnership with BBC Music Introducing, and we published two major reports to finish the year, our Startup Guide to Music business and Distribution Revolution; a look at the digital music supply chain in the UK which we are exploring further over the course of today.

All of these initiatives have really helped redefine AIM as a hub for business building and entrepreneurship in the modern music industry, and ensure our continued relevance to our Founder Members whilst embracing the new business models that have emerged, and the further opportunities that lie ahead. The future of the independent sector is looking very strong indeed.

Certainly, on the one hand things look pretty good – through Merlin, independent businesses of all sizes can take advantage of rates and deal structures previously only open to the very biggest market participants. Deals with new services like Tik Tok have come on stream and the industry’s headline numbers are sounding extremely positive – In the UK Music report ‘Music By Numbers’, the industry is shown to have contributed £5.2bn to the UK economy in Gross Value Added.

So why doesn’t it feel any easier?

We are still all working harder than ever, fighting every day to stand out, to get ahead, to sharpen our edge. And each time we feel good about a headline, it can feel like we are faced with yet another setback beyond our control.

The Government announcement that the UK would not be implementing the EU Copyright Directive, the act of Brexit itself last weekend, and of course the amount of attention and focus now on the climate emergency that faces us all. All of this on top of the struggle to make your businesses work on the day to day, to pay artists and partners, the rent and your teams.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed and of course to have moments of gloom.

It is positive to see the increased awareness in our industry of issues around anxiety, depression and mental health. The importance of promoting a healthy work-life balance and looking after ourselves has come of age and makes up an important strand through today’s conference.

I really do think something very interesting is happening at the moment, and whilst many of the challenges we face seem daunting, I think we are better placed than ever to meet them head-on.

AIM itself, and our strength through our community and our partnerships has never been better.

2020 is a year in which there are many issues of the moment – and we are active on multiple fronts on your behalf.

Brexit happened last weekend and you can be forgiven for feeling it was a bit of an anti-climax as, beyond the bluster and rhetoric, nothing really has changed for now. But we must not be complacent. Over the next few months, pressure will ratchet back up and before long, we will be approaching crunch-time once again. The end of this year presents yet another potential no-deal cliff-edge and we must be ready.

We are working alongside our colleagues at the Musicians Union and other partners at UK Music to promote the idea of a ‘touring passport’ to try to avoid a slide back to the bad old days of carnets and other bureaucratic hurdles that will make career development for emerging artists especially, all the more difficult, expensive and fraught with risk. We are scrutinising aspects of cross-border data sharing, transshipment of goods and all of the other areas of our businesses that could be disrupted if not considered properly, whatever the outcome of the various trade negotiations now underway.

We are also working hard to ensure the UK doesn’t miss out on the opportunity to benefit from the legal certainty we were hoping to gain from the implementation of the European Copyright Directive. Whilst the Government has stated clearly that it will not implement the Directive, we will not let up in our campaign to ensure the Value Gap does not persist and that we are able to better balance the relationships and value-flows with some of the platforms, who remain crucial partners to our businesses, even though clearly some still need to reflect a better and more even balance of value in the protection of rights and flow of royalties.

Another crucial area of focus for AIM is in the ability of our members to access capital. Government has stated its intention to develop a proper music strategy over the course of this year, and we are determined to ensure that support for a range of funding and financing options is at the very heart of the government’s approach.

During the recent debate in parliament on the value of music to society, I was very reassured to hear our Minister for Culture, Nigel Adams, respond positively to a question about whether he would support the suggestion of a new tax break for music. We are following up, and I am working as the chair of the UK Music Fiscal Incentives Committee, to secure a united approach by the industry so as to speak with one voice and maximise our chances in this area.

I would like to say something about the Climate Emergency.

Our partnership with Client Earth since they became our charity partner at last year’s AIM Independent Music Awards has gone from strength to strength and shown once again that we are comfortable working simultaneously through grass roots approaches and direct action whilst also attacking problems via a global strategic approach including through existing laws and the potential for new legislation.

AIM’s Climate Action Group has already become an industry leader in developing practical tools and action while helping coordinate and amplify the good work being done elsewhere across our industry and beyond.

As well as working alongside a number of commercial partners within the music industry AIM has been speaking with the UN Environmental Agency about how as an industry and a community we can collaborate to best align our work and help make a difference to the World. We will not stand for Astro-turfing on this, or any other issue.

The independent music community has always been about more than just music and money. Our sector has grown and developed out of wave after wave of cultural movements, ahead of the mainstream and at the forefront of key moments in political and social justice.

We are a community that cares.

And I think we see this spirit reflected in AIM Connected. We come together as a community to meet, discuss and share ideas and knowledge across all of these interests and themes.

Once again I feel we have delivered a conference that lives up to our commitments to improve diversity and inclusion of under-represented voices within our industry and achieve gender balance. We have also once again worked actively to encourage as diverse a range of people as possible from across our community to attend, including giving bursaries and special discounts to community organisations we work with and to regional members, to try to help remove inequitable financial barriers where we can. However we do not rest on our laurels and nor do we consider this work to be ‘done’. We will continue to focus and improve as we work hard to live up to our aspirations and have been discussing some of the ways we can work harder on these topics today in our Strong Opinions sessions.

Whenever I stand in front of the community at events like this, I look out and see the strength and breadth of our independent music community and every time I do, I am left with a strong sense that when we come together, nothing is impossible. There are, as ever, some big battles to fight and some hard roads to travel, but also, as ever, I feel that together, we can and we shall succeed.

Source AIM

February 6, 2020 10:00am ET by Pressparty  

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