After recently visiting the Motor Museum recording studio in the Lark Lane area I have written to the government to press for changes in the way that recording studios are assessed for business rates as many are under real financial pressure.
The success of Olivia Dean and Lola Young at the Grammys was a major fillip for the UK music industry and a reminder that creative industries are a key part of the UK economy.
The Motor Museum has played a significant role in the industry’s success story over the 37 years of its existence, playing host to recording sessions by major UK bands like Oasis and the Arctic Monkeys as well as artists from all over the world.
However, many recording studios are facing an uncertain future. They are assessed for business rates in the same way as other business premises like offices, on the basis of square feet, but it is the sound that studios create not the space that makes them distinctive.
I am calling for recording studios to be assessed separately from other businesses, in the same way that film studios are; soundtracks are so fundamental to films that it just doesn’t make sense to treat recording studios less favourably.
Recording studios are part of the essential infrastructure of the music industry where so many young musicians take the first steps in their career, without them there would be no albums and no tours. We mustn’t lose them.
