UK Music new chairman appointment

[ruffrecords]

So, what do you think of the appointment of Tom Watson as the new chairman of UK Music?

Cheers

Ian

 

[ruffrecords]

Nobody have a view on this? Nobody care?

Cheers

Ian

 

[Brian Roth]

Ian....I'm just not familiar with all the elements.....first of all what is UK Music?  To me that would be the Beatles and Stones <g>

Bri

 

[TwentyTrees]

I'll bite. He's an interesting choice  - recently ex-Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, now heading up the UK's main music industry advocacy body. He's a genuine political heavyweight with a lot of clout and a lot of credibility in Westminster at least, though I wasn't aware of any music links before and I don't have a sense of what his / UK Music's priorities might be now. He could be a liability (political past coming back to haunt him), or he could help open doors in Westminster to influence policy - which would, I suspect, be a factor in why he was appointed.

Will be curious to see how this plays out.

 

[ruffrecords]

Ian....I'm just not familiar with all the elements.....first of all what is UK Music?  To me that would be the Beatles and Stones <g>

Bri

UK Music is an industry-funded body, established in October 2008, to represent the collective interests of the recorded, published and live arms of the British music industry.

Here is their About page:

https://www.ukmusic.org/about/

Lobbying seems to be a major element of what they do and the outgoing chairman is a politician as is the incoming one. Thing is, the incoming guy was central to the initiation of a number of sexual misconduct investigations of popular artistes, including Cliff Richards, based on false allegations. Cliff has boiced his concerns about the appoint,ent as has Mike Batt and others in the industry.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Tubetec]

I couldn't really comment for lack of backround info .
Just from the read through of whats been said here it sounds like they have installed the witchfinder general , how will this guy represent the ordinary musician ? , seem like this UK music organisation has just destroyed any credibillity it may have had .
Thumbs down to Tom , off with his head  ;D

 

[PRR]

So, what do you think of the appointment of Tom Watson as the new chairman of UK Music?

Who, what?

OK, this is an insular issue. As said UK Music works in the interest of the music business in England. The appointment has drawn wide attention in UK news sources.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=UK+Music+Chair+Tom+Watson

Watson was a loud voice in Parliament for a decade. Can he now advocate for music with the politicians he used to stand against? He is widely criticized for his role in a 'bungled' police investigation into historical sexual abuse claims, including against music kingpins Cliff Richard and Paul Gambaccini.

And "Tom Watson, ...has said that record shops should be among the first wave of retailers to open after the coronavirus lockdown." Huh?? Record shops died with bookstores and video rentals a decade ago.

 

[ruffrecords]

I don't see how this is any more insular than America politics, but no matter. The press coverage is widening with increasing numbers of big names condemning the appointment and more national newspapers carrying the developments.

Cheers

Ian