UK Music Chief Welcomes Move To Give Music Lovers A Bigger Voice Through Fan-led Review of Live and Electronic Music

17.04.2026: UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl has welcomed a recommendation by MPs and peers to give fans a greater voice as part of independent review of the live and electronic sector.

According to the fan-led review carried out by the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, music lovers should be given more representation in policy and decision making.

Under the recommendations of the cross-party committee published today (Friday April 17), a new Government and industry-backed Music Fans Association should be established.

The recommendation follows almost a year of engagement across the country with more than 4,000 music fans and stakeholders after the Culture, Media and Sport Committee set up the independent review to help improve the sustainability of grassroots music and safeguarding the success of the wider UK music industry.

The review, chaired by Lord Brennan of Canton, sets out nearly 50 recommendations under seven key principles - or 'essentials of live' - of celebration, ticketing, grassroots, safety, accessibility, transport and voice.

The recommendations include calls for the Government to implement long awaited legislation to ban the resale of tickets above face value and improving fans' experiences at venues, such as ensuring ample drinking water and the availability of ear plugs.

The review also calls for the UK government to embed the 'agent of change' principle in

planning legislation in England. This would ensure that when new homes are built near

music venues the responsibility to ensure that noise is not a problem falls on developers rather than the music venue.

Lord Brennan said: "Over the last year we've given a voice to fans of all different music types and genres from across the country and they've told us loud and clear that often they feel neglected and ripped off.

"Our new Fans' Charter sets out a practical and achievable way ahead that everyone, from

ticketing platforms to venues, from artists to promoters, from managers to councils, can

sign up to, to help secure the long-term future of live music."

Welcoming the review's support for UK Music campaigns to tackle ticket touts and protect music venues, UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl said:

"Music fans are the lifeblood of our world-leading music industry. The House of Commons Culture Media and Sport Committee, Dame Caroline Dinenage and Lord Brennan of Canton are to hugely be congratulated for their initiative with this innovative inquiry which has rightly given music fans a much bigger voice.

"There are a number of recommendations that UK Music has campaigned for and strongly supports in this detailed review which took evidence from more than 4,000 music fans.

"The report urges the Government to get on with its promised crackdown on the greedy touts who rip off music fans by reselling tickets at exorbitant prices. Action cannot come soon enough and legislative action must be included in next month's Kings Speech.

"UK Music and our members have campaigned for many years to get the "Agent of Change" principle fully embedded in planning rules to better protect cultural spaces. The Government has a huge opportunity to immediately put this into action by backing amendments recently passed in the House of Lords on the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill that would put it on a statutory basis.

"It's vital that all music spaces, be it venues, rehearsal rooms and studios, are diverse, safe, accessible and welcoming places that all music fans can enjoy - and the report makes some very welcome recommendations to achieve this.

"We hope the Government will listen to the clarion call from this cross-party review and do everything it can to help grow our live and electronic music sector, the millions of music fans who support them and the 220,000 people who earn their living in the UK music industry."