The Week in Light & Sound

Cast Adrift - Cultural leaders have advocated for a special visa for performers and other creatives after Brexit, warning that Britain will be “cast adrift” if a solution that protects the arts is not found. Speaking at a House of Lords committee session, Andrew Hurst, chief executive of dance body One Dance UK, and the Musicians’ Union’s general secretary Horace Trubridge both argued that special immigration measures needed to be considered for cultural workers in the Brexit process due to the industry’s unique working patterns
These include touring to multiple countries, short-term contracts and the need to access talent at short notice. Trubridge said: “We feel that cultural and creative workers should be seen as a very distinct, atypical workforce who need special treatment post-Brexit. We would like to see a Europe-wide visa they could use to enable them to tour as efficiently as they do now.” He added that UK-based musicians had already started moving to Europe because they were worried about future work prospects.
Just 2% of musicians polled by the MU said they thought Brexit would be good for the music industry, Trubridge said, adding that he found it “very difficult to see any kind of up-side for the music industry”.
Adapting Dahl - The company that manages the licensing rights of Roald Dahl’s works is moving into theatre production and is appointing an executive producer to facilitate its plans. The Roald Dahl Story Company currently licenses Dahl’s work to organisations wishing to adapt his stories into television productions or stage productions. However, it is now planning to move from being “a traditional licensor of rights to a theatrical production company”.
In recent years, many of Dahl’s books have been adapted for the stage, including Matilda, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was co-produced by Warner Bros Theatre Ventures and Neal Street Productions.
Song for Europe - Former Eurovision backing singer SuRie will represent the UK at this year's song contest. She beat five others in a combined public and expert jury vote after performing her track, Storm, at a televised BBC event in Brighton.
Real name Susanna Cork, she has featured in Eurovision before - as a backing dancer for Belgian act Loic Nottet in 2015, and musical director for another Belgian entrant in 2017. She has also sung backing vocals for acts such as Coldplay's Chris Martin and Will Young.
Horror Show - Johnny Depp will tour the UK with his band The Hollywood Vampires this summer, with dates including London and Manchester. The heavy rock scombo is fronted by Alice Cooper and has Depp and Aerosmith's Joe Perry on guitars. The trio will embark on a short UK tour in June where they will be joined by support bands The Darkness and The Damned. "There will be rumbling in ears and there might be blood trickling out of one ear," Depp said.
Money Matters - Adele has made a staggering £142m in one world tour, cementing her place as one of Britain's richest musicians.The singer made more than $1m per show in 2016/2017, while touring with her latest album 25. Profits were revealed by her company Remedy Touring LLP, which said the singer cashed in £42m herself, while the rest was used by her company.
The company made a profit of just under £70m, with the rest being used to cover costs for the tour. Of the total amount earned, £136m came from ticket sales and another £6.6m from the tour's merchandise.
(Jim Evans)
13 February 2018

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