Culture Politick

Weekly email: 28/01/2010

February 2nd, 2010 -

3 Comments

Tags:

BSkyB, Digital Economy Bill, Education, Heritage, ITV, Libraries, Local Media, Music, Piracy, Print media, Theatre, Video Games

Here’s this week’s news…

Tory Stuff

Ed spoke this week on cultural education at the Yehudi Menuhin school. He warned that: ‘We are losing sight of the key aims of cultural education in a blizzard of initiatives. What I would like to do is bring some coherence, stability and long-term strategy to the sector.

I want to be able to answer easily questions like: can my child learn a musical instrument, learn art, learn to dance, regardless of my income; if my child is talented, can I guarantee that they will be able to sustain their talent; will my child leave school with a solid cultural education, and therefore feel comfortable in engaging in the arts in all its forms?

In short, we need strategy and coherence from the centre, so that the considerable funds that are spent on music and dance education – more than £95 million annually – are spent efficiently and effectively.’ Full speech HERE. We are very interested to hear your contributions, so please do post them in the comments section, identifying who you are and which organisation you are from. There is a nice comment about the speech on LinkedIn HERE.

Jeremy is on Facebook, add him as a friend HERE We are resisting all obvious jokes

Creative Industries

Digital Economy Bill Day 5

Clauses 10 -18 were considered, full transcript on Hansard HERE A sixth day is scheduled for 3^rd February. With discussions of the eagerly anticipated Clause 17 starting HERE Lord Howard spoke for our side, and pointed out HERE that the Government haven’t said what they want this power for, which makes it rather difficult for us to decide whether to support it or not. He also expressed our serious concerns about broad nature of the power and the use of a super affirmative resolution (that’s a super duper SI) and said that in its current form, we don’t support it. We would like to see the Government come back narrower definition of the power, and continue to discuss this with them.

Online Piracy

At the Oxford Media Convention, Stephen Timms, the ‘Digital Britain’ Minister, criticised rights holders for not moving fast enough to bring new business models to market. He said: ‘The space the legislation provides to develop those models will be important. But rights holders must get a move on. Legislation is not the whole solution to the problems. Rights holders need to develop new ways to make content available to people in formats that they want and at a fair price – reducing the incentive to break the law. Progress has been much too slow. We also need initiatives to educate people about why creativity deserves to be fairly rewarded.’ Er, we agree, more HERE ’

ITV

ITV have appointed Adam Crozier, the head of Royal Mail and former boss of the FA as its new chief executive. More HERE congratulations all round.

Congratulations to ITV and Sony Pictures TV, as analysis suggests Who Wants to Be A Millionaire? A TV format created in the UK is the most popular gameshow in the world more HERE.

BSkyB

Continue their downturn-defying financial performance: For the six months to the end of December, they have reported a revenue rise of 10% year on year to £2.9 billion. More HERE.

Video Games

The House of Lords Communications Committee has effectively backed TIGA’s campaign for Games Tax Relief in their report into The British Film and Television Industries published this week. The report says: “We recognise the claims of the videogames industry for support in the face of foreign government-subsidised competition, and recommend that the Government consider providing tax incentives for videogames production.” More HERE.

Speaking at the Westminster eForum on video games Ian Livingstone criticised the national news media’s tendency to stir up more panic surrounding violent content more

HERE Ed also spoke at this event, more HERE.

TIGA have said it is ludicrous to suggest that playing video games was responsible for an apparent increase in cases of rickets more HERE and HERE.

Technology

Derek Wyatt MP has created a ‘My MP’ App for the iPhone, yes really, a Beta version is available HERE

Local News

The CEO Trinity Mirror’s CEO called for the abolition of council newspapers at the Oxford Media Convention last week, HERE. Meanwhile, the Audit Commission wrote to Stephen Timms last week with their conclusions from research into this area. They say that ‘the money being spent by councils is not unreasonable, though they should always consider whether it provides good value. Few council publications are published sufficiently frequently to be viable media for most local advertising.’ The letter and the appendix are published HERE.

Newspapers

Congratulations to the Guardian.co.uk which has attracted nearly 37m users and breaks the record for a UK newspaper website according to their latest ABC stats. We don’t know where we’d be without it, frankly. More HERE.

Music

Congratulations to UK indie label XL, part of the Beggars group, on reaching a number 1 in the US album chart with Vampire Weekend’s second album Contra, more HERE.

iPad

Bringer of the eBooks revolution, possible saviour of the newspaper business, or an oversized iPhone? Views on this, and an explanation of the term ‘goldilocks device’ HERE

Arts and Heritage

Culture and Education

Ofsted have published a report into culture and education: ‘Learning: Creative approaches that raise standards’ more HERE which recognises the work of Creative Partnerships and the impact of creative learning practices in schools in improving standards and pupils’ personal development.

Creativity, Culture and Education have welcomed Ofsted’s recognition that using arts and culture across in learning raise attainment levels, improve attendance and increase pupil motivation – particularly for schools in challenging circumstances, more HERE

New Deal of the Mind

£1.45 million announced for 223 jobs, 167 of which will be arts jobs across 14 London boroughs in a project run by new Deal of the Mind. There include design assistants, marketing and press assistants and fundraisers at organisations including The British Library, the Lyric Hammersmith, the Young Vic and the Royal Court, more HERE

Libraries

A new research report conducted by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) highlights the crucial role public libraries play in supporting the delivery of the national digital priorities set out by the Government and Digital Inclusion Champion, Martha Lane Fox. More HERE and HERE.

Meanwhile, a commission to examine the future of school library provision in England is being launched by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) and the National Literacy Trust (NLT) it will be chaired by Estelle Morris, more HERE

New funding opportunity for libraries to support digital inclusion has been announced in December’s Smarter Government report. Library services have their chance to bid for new funding, thanks to a new £30 million government investment in UK online centres. More information about the funding, different models, criteria and obligations HERE.

The Charted Institute of Library and Information Professionals has responded to the Government’s (latest) libraries review, HERE.

Heritage

English Heritage is suggesting that refurbishing old school buildings is often the best use of resources and the most sustainable way of modernising them and have published two new papers that highlight the value and potential of older schools. We think this is an interesting idea, well worth exploring, more HERE and HERE.

New grants from HLF have just been announced, Including a £3m grant to the Giant’s Causeway World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland and £3.7m for Liverpool’s pioneering Florence Institute for Boys, more HERE.

Theatre

Great news for theatre: total box office receipts for 2009 were up to £504,765,690; marking the seventh record-breaking year in a row. What’s more, while in previous years it has been musicals that have driven increases in box office takings, in 2009 the rise was almost entirely accounted for by the performance of drama at the box office. Led by the success of shows such as War Horse, Waiting for Godot and Calendar Girls, plays were 26% up on 2008 levels, while opera, dance and entertainments were up 7%. Musicals were 2% down over the year more. Congratulations all round, more HERE.

In Parliament

Parliamentary Questions

Just 77% of the Scottish population can currently access DAB HERE

DCMS considering proposals from Camelot to enter the commercial market for bill payments HERE

The largest proportion of the general public view the Arts Council ‘neither favourably nor unfavourably’ HERE

Digital Economy Bill

The Digital Economy Bill has reached Clause 9 in the Committee Stage of the Lords HERE

EDMs

EDM 689 – Licensing Act 2003 HERE

EDM 671 – Publication of salaries and remuneration packages of BBC executives HERE

EDM 666 – Live Music Bill HERE

Where we’ve been and who we’ve seen

The Stephen Lawrence Centre, the RSC education team, Battersea Power station, English Heritage, Asian Music Circuit, Southbank Sinfonia Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at the National Theatre, UK Music, Enron at the Noel Coward Theatre, The Yehudi Menuhin School, the Performer Alliance APPG were everybody supported an exemption to the Licensing Act for small venues HERE, the Globe, Clore Duffield Foundation, the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Foyle Foundation, Fidelity UK Foundation, Michael Van der Ham, Christopher Kane, Erdem, the London College of Fashion MA show at the V&A, Clare Delmar, Channel 4, ITV, STV, Johnson Press, Google, Yahoo, Ebay, Facebook, OFT.

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News Summary: 1st February 2010

February 1st, 2010 -

1 Comment

Tags:

BBC, Channel 4, Digital Switchover, ITV, Museums, Radio, Video Games

Julian Bellamy, head of Channel 4, has just confirmed that the broadcaster is in talks with Jonathan Ross, whose BBC contract ends in July. More in the Guardian HERE and Independent HERE. The announcement comes at a time when Channel 4 is looking to ‘fill the void after reality TV’, on which more HERE.

Today is Follow a Museum Day – over a million people already follow museums on Twitter, and today each of these is being asked to tell a friend about their museum, inviting them to follow too. The full directory of tweeting UK museums can be found HERE.

Amidst government and industry fears of an anti-switchover rebellion by fm radio listeners, Digital Radio UK, the organisation set up to drive switchover has held exploratory talks with leading retailers and manufacturers about a radio scrappage scheme wherein stores will accept analogue sets in part-exchange for new digital models.

One complementary idea being touted by senior industry executives involves sending a shipment of outmoded analogue radios to an African country, where they are one of the main sources of communication and the BBC World Service is popular. The event would generate huge publicity and could form the centrepiece of a PR campaign in the run up to switchover, when the public will be persuaded to dump their old sets. More HERE.

ITV is reported to have faced shareholder anger last night over the £15m pay package of the next chief executive, formerly of Royal Mail, Adam Crozier (as covered in our weekend summary HERE). One significant shareholder described Crozier as ‘totally unproven’, adding ‘The pity of it is one tends to associate the Royal Mail with bad management’. More in The Times HERE, whilst the Guardian discusses why ‘ad men like Crozier’ are coming to dominate television HERE.

TIGA, the trade association representing the UK games industry, has called on the Government to invest resources in all creative industries with potential, rather than just traditional business sectors. Jason Kingsley, Chairman of TIGA and CEO and Creative Director at Rebellion Studios, said:

‘Just as the Government backs sectors like the film industry and the oil industry with tax breaks, so it should invest in the games industry through Games Tax Relief. The UK Government must support the creative industries in general, and the video games sector in particular, as part of a process of rebalancing the UK economy away from an excessive dependency on financial services.’ More HERE.

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Weekly email: 21/01/2010

January 21st, 2010 -

1 Comment

Tags:

Art, Arts Council, Awards, BBC, Broadband, Competition, Cultural Olympiad, Digital Economy Bill, Film, Heritage, ITV, Libraries, Philanthropy, Video Games

Here is this week’s news:

Tory Stuff

Media

Jeremy is speaking at the Oxford Media Convention as we email! Coverage of what he’s saying HERE and full transcript HERE.

In an interview this week with New Media Age, Shadow Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt acknowledged the vital role that the digital media industry plays in the UK economy, and promised a light-touch regulatory approach. HERE

Ed spoke at the Nations and Regions Media conference in Salford Quays on Tuesday. He confirmed our intention to scrap the IFNC pilots should be win the election more HERE and HERE

Arts Policy

Charlotte Higgins has written a helpful and by and large quite nice overview of the themes from Jeremy’s speech to the RSA / ACE State of the Arts conference last week, HERE Lyn Gardner discussed our philanthropy proposals in the Granuiad HERE. The Arts Council have pointed out to us that it was a joint conference, not just the RSA’s. Apologies, credit where it’s due, etc.

Material from the conference is available HERE.

Creative Industries

Digital Economy Bill

The Digital Economy Bill had its third (HERE) and fourth (HERE) days in Committee in the Lords, they have reached Clause 10.

Interesting correspondence this week in the letters page of the Granuiad on clause 17, led by a letter from the Creative Coalition HEREwith a response HERE

Two new pieces of research from both the BPI and Creative Coalition suggest that ISPs are exaggerating the financial hardship they will have to bear under measures proposed by the Digital Economy Bill. More in links via Facebook in some clever way HERE

and HERE.

ITV CRR Decision

The Competition Commission has given its final recommendations on CRR for consultation. The main recommendations are unchanged from its provisional findings and reject ITV’s proposals for more flexibility over its advertising charges. ITV have commented that ‘This decision confirms the urgent need for a thorough and comprehensive review of the cumulative impact of regulation of the independent broadcasting sector.’

We agree (with ITV), more HERE and HERE.

This morning the court of appeal has ordered BSkyB to sell down its stake in ITV from 17.9% to less than 7.5%HERE.

BBC

Maybe it is rocket science: The BBC have announced that throughout 2010 they will be ‘bringing together a range of TV and radio science programmes, online initiatives, regional road shows and learning campaigns to inspire engagement with science across the nation more HERE.

Meanwhile CCHQ wants Tory activists to help ‘beat BBC bias’ more HERE.

The BBC Trust has announced it is to conduct a performance review of the BBC’s on-demand offerings, including the iPlayer, simulcast TV and podcast downloads. This is launched today with an eight week public consultation, more HERE.

Video Games

The Video Standards Council has announced a number of high-level staff changes ahead of the implementation of the government’s new video games ratings regime outlined in the Digital Economy Bill more HERE.

The prestigious Ivor Novello Awards are to recognise music from videogames for the first time this year following the introduction of a special game score category, more HERE. Meanwhile, Hugo Chavez clearly is the new Keith Vaz, suggesting that the PlayStation leads children down the capitalist ‘road to hell’, which is of course just one of the reasons we like them more HERE.

Joining us on Chavez’s proverbial road to hell, is the Parliamentary website Parliament.uk which has recently launched a video game where you get to be an MP for Week, as part of their work with schools to support young people’s understanding of Parliament and democracy. Play it for yourself HERE

There’s an interesting post on video games HERE summarising recent political developments relevant to the sector.

Film

2009 production and box office figures from the UKFC show that the industry is weathering the recession well, with record inward investment, record box office, and UK indie films at their most popular in cinemas for a decade. On the downside there has been small drop in independent UK production and spend, and there are ongoing challenges in raising credit for film projects, especially through bank loans. More details in the full reports HERE.

CC Skills

Congratulations to Tom Berwick. He has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of Enterprise UK by Chairman and Dragon (of the Den) Peter Jones CBE. Tom leaves his current post as Chief Executive of Creative & Cultural Skills at the end of March more HERE

Broadband

We have release figures which show that the Government’s proposed broadband tax will hit 3.2 million people who do not have an internet connection and have no interest in having one, more HERE.

News speeds and prices for superfast broadband from BT more for its superfast broadband service HERE.

Awards Season Round Up

A slightly controversial night for Ricky Gervais in an otherwise quiet night for the Brits at the Golden Globes HERE. Congratulations to the BAFTA nominees, especially An Education, neck and neck with Avatar with eight nominations a piece, full list HERE. Further congratulations to the Brits nominees HERE, and nominees and winners at the National Television Awards, HERE where Jedward stole the show, HERE.

Arts and Heritage

Arts Council

Arts Council England have launched Achieving great art for everyone – a consultation on future priorities for the arts. The results of the consultation will inform a ten-year strategic framework and the Arts Council’s future investment decisions, so get contributing, moreHERE

Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad

It’s been going since 2008 apparently. Did you know that? More HERE.

Heritage

The Historic Houses Association have launched their policy proposals for 2010 onward, titled ‘Inspirational Places – the value of Britain’s historic houses’ more HERE.

Libraries

Good news as interim results from an independent review of Northumberland’s library service show that the closure of six libraries in the county can be put on hold while further talks are held with communities, with the aim of developing new ways of working. More HERE. Shows what can happen when the MLA gets in on the ground floor.

In Parliament

Prime Minister’s Questions

Excitement this week, as a question was posed to Gordon about rural broadband HERE.

Oral Questions

Oral questions took place on Monday covering everything from the 2018 World Cup bid to product placement HERE

10 Minute Rule Bill

Tom Watson introduced a 10 Minute Rule Bill on Digital Archiving, and got into trouble with the Deputy Speaker for grandstanding on the Digital Economy Bill HERE.

House of Commons

Video recordings bill received royal assent in the Commons today HERE.

Parliamentary Questions

34 external consultants working at the DCMS HERE

Still no indication from the DCMS of how many jobs the Government’s flagship Future Jobs Fund has created HERE

1400 responses to the Government’s consultation on product placement HERE

Over £500 million on free television licenses HERE

The criteria set out for community radio stations to receive a licence HERE

Government spending through the Community Radio Fund HERE

Implementation of the Legal Deposit Libraries Act HERE

Lords

The Video Recordings Bill made its way through the Lords HERE

EDMs

EDM 642 – National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts Big Green Challenge Awards HERE

EDM 617 – Access to Government services via the internet HERE

On the blog

Ed’s chief of staff Helen and Fun Inc author Tom Chatfield discuss whether the high barriers to entry explain why video games aren’t taken seriously by the wider cultural world, and Tom suggests where to start, HERE . An online network for independent filmmakers has a discussion about internships, unpaid / low paid work, and the minimum wage, something which is a live issue across the cultural and creative industries HERE

And Finally

Something to cheer Obama up following this week’s loss of Ted Kennedy’s seat to Republican Scott Brown: Obama the musical has opened in Germany. More HERE

Where we’ve been and who we’ve seen

Arts Council, Ofcom, Digital Radio surgery, Nations and Regions Media conference, Arts and Humanities Research Council, GLA, Wallace Collection, Westminster eForum on video games, Edelman, Mediawatch, digital entrepreneurs at Bootlaw, Moctezuma at the British Museum, Northampton School for Girls (specialist music school), Northampton Music Service Oxford Media Convention, Modern Art Oxford.

Ed Vaizey

Shadow Arts Minister

Jeremy Hunt

Shadow Culture Secretary

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News Summary: January 20th 2010

January 20th, 2010 -

Tags:

BBC, Censorship, Google, Paid-for Digital, Print media, Video Games

Google.cn again, and today news that Google has taken its first concrete step out of China, postponing the launch of two mobile phones produced specifically for the Chinese market. China has the world’s most-populous mobile phone market, with more than 700 million accounts. The postponement of the mobile phone launch underlines for Google how widespread the commercial fall-out of its dispute might become.

China is very much standing its ground, a Foreign Ministry spokesman referring to Google directly for the first time yesterday, saying ‘Foreign enterprises in China need to adhere to China’s laws and regulations… Google is no exception’. Indeed, Google continues to offered its censored service. More in the Times HERE and Telegraph HERE.

The BBC has launched a marketing review, expected to take about 20 weeks, and forming part of Mark Thomson’s larger strategic review. The BBC has refused to comment as to whether the review will result in job-losses. More in the Guardian HERE and Marketing Week HERE.

iTunes for newspapers? The problem of getting payment for newspapers’ online content could find solution in the arms of Apple, who, thanks to the success of the iTunes store, can now offer 100m accounts with credit card information. This, in turn, could be used to offer readers an attractively simple and elegant way to pay for online newspaper content: ‘click and run and don’t think about it’. More in the Guardian HERE and Telegraph HERE.

Also being linked to Apple’s tablet launch next week, are rumours that the New York Times is set to announce a Financial Times-style paywall for online readers. The FT’s paywall meters access, allowing readers to view a limited number of articles a month, before asking for subscription. The advantage attributed to a metered model is that it would allow NYTimes.com to extract money from heavy users while preserving its impressive reach (of 16 million monthly unique users). More in the Guardian HERE and Independent HERE.

Internet-enabled games consoles are staking a claim to be a home-entertainment hub. A Microsoft Xbox under the television means no need for satalite dish-installation; you can get Sky’s sports channels through the games console; If you’ve got a Sony PlayStation3, you can use it to get programmes via the BBC’s iPlayer, rather than having to watch them on your laptop; and Nintendo Wii users were told last week that they are going to be able to start streaming full-length movies over their console, thanks to a deal with Netflix. More HERE.

Posted in:

News Summary: January 19th 2010

January 19th, 2010 -

Tags:

Advertising, Awards, Censorship, Google, ITV, Music, Ofcom, Video Games

Ofcom said yesterday that it is committed to “removing unnecessary burdens” from TV broadcasters; its current review is looking at rules surrounding advertising minutes. Ofcom’s CEO Ed Richards said:

‘[in the context of] substantial increases in the takeup of digital services and in the number of available channels, and consolidation in the advertising buying sector… If regulations have no public interest then they should be removed. That is what we will be considering here.’

ITV responded: ‘ITV welcomes Ofcom’s proposed review of the advertising sales and scheduling rules and its recognition that further deregulation may be necessary’ More in the Guardian HERE; Times HERE; Telegraph HERE; and FT HERE.

A report by Deloitte has expressed optimism for the future of ‘traditional’ television advertising consumption, saying that, contrary to the findings of ‘misleading’ self-report research: ‘In 2010 most consumers of content are likely to remain happily beholden to the schedule, rather than resentful of what some pundits have labelled the “tyranny of the schedule”… Linear is likely to remain dominant not just in 2010 but for many years to come.’ More HERE

The Googlecn drama continues to unfold, with latest reports flagging the fact that Google might have fallen victim to an ‘inside job’, wherein the firm’s own employees assisted hackers who then launched the cyber-attack from China prompting Google’s threats last week to leave the country. Google has responded: ‘We’re not commenting on rumour and speculation. This is an ongoing investigation, and we simply cannot comment on the details.’ More in the Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; Times HERE; and Telegraph HERE.

And finally… ‘Best Original Video Game Score goes to…’

Video games, congratulations! Excellent kick off to the year as the Ivor Novello awards are to introduce a new category — best original video game score, in recognition of the increasing sophistication of game soundtracks and their importance as a new revenue stream for the music industry, on which you might like to read more HERE.

But that’s not all – video games are also being congratulated for raising social and political awareness; for discovering ‘virtuous reality’. This in response to ‘serious’ games such as ‘Dying in Darfur’, intended to depict the reality of life in Sudan. Read more HERE.

Posted in:

Weekly email: 14/01/10

January 18th, 2010 -

Tags:

Art, Arts Council, Channel 4, Cultural Olympiad, Dance, Heritage, Libraries, Local Media, Museums, Music, Opera, Philanthropy, Piracy, Public Service Broadcasting, Television, Video Games

Here is this week’s news:

Tory Stuff

Jeremy made a major speech on the arts at the RSA’s conference on arts policy, the largest conference of its kind held in recent years. He was doing his impressive speaking-without-notes trick so no transcript to link to, but he talked about our plans to: restore lottery funds to the four original good causes, bear down on quango administration costs; philanthropy including simplifying Gift Aid and lifetime giving, and incentives to build up endowments and a better culture of asking for contributions. There’s good overview from Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian, HERE, although unfortunately there is a typo in the headline, which should say ‘Arts bureaucracy cuts proposed by Conservatives.’ Feedback on what he said and other goings on from the conference on Twitter, HERE.

Creative Industries

Digital Economy Bill

Realising that there is no way it will pass in its current form, the Government has climbed down on Clause 17 (which allows the Government to extend copyright with minimal consultation) more HERE and latest discussion from the Lords HERE. The debate rages on with Bono’s 10 ideas to make the next 10 years more interesting, including criticism of internet piracy HERE causes a storm of debate HERE and HERE

Video Games

Ed spoke at an event on video games at the RSA last night with Tom Chatfield, a critic and commentator on video games, with an excellent book out this week, Fun Inc. Why Video Games Are the First Serious Business of the 21st Century, more HERE and HERE.

Channel 4

Congratulations to C4, which has been awarded the broadcast rights for the 2012 Paralympics. It will broadcast 150 hours of coverage after winning what LOCOG described as a ‘highly competitive tender process’. C4 tell us they feel this is a great fit with their remit commitment to cultural diversity and that ‘we’ll be throwing everything at our coverage to make it as innovative and exciting as it can be and attract the largest possible audiences.’ More HERE

Local Media

Ed spoke in yet another debate on the Local Media in Parliament this week HERE. Eight consortia have been successful in the first phase of the selection process for Independently Funded News Consortia (IFNC) pilots HERE. We oppose IFNCs as a backward step, and instead have put forward proposals for local television HERE

Broadcasting

Independent think tank Policy Exchange has published a report on the future of broadcasting HERE. The report argues that public service broadcasting needs to be radically overhauled if it is to survive in the new digital age. It calls for the BBC to place quality before ratings, and stop spending huge resources on sports rights, programmes for 16 to 35 year olds and popular entertainment, which other channels would deliver anyway. Instead of crowding out commercial schemes, the BBC management should spend up to 5% of total licence fee income on co-funding PSB programmes on other channels.

Music

Contribute to this discussion on our LinkedIn group: It’s a traditional New Year ritual for trade associations to portray their industries in the best possible light, but how is the entertainment business really doing? HERE Incidentally, any one can start a discussion on our Linked In group, so feel free.

Arts and Heritage

Arts Council

What did the Arts Council ever do to Tom Watson MP, we wonder, as he tables yet more parliamentary questions about them following the 50 - yes 50 - he tabled last week, and the 50-plus before Christmas, the latest from yesterday HERE the day before HERE 6th January HERE 5^th January HERE

Could it be the answer to an earlier question, as reported HERE that has really got him going?

The Arts Council has given an extra £1.2 million to the ICA, more HERE

Cultural Olympiad

DCMS advisor on Culture and former director of the Manchester International Festival Ruth Mackenzie has been appointed as the director of the Cultural Olympiad. At the same time several artistic associates have also been announced: Alex Poots, current artistic director of MIF, Martin Duncan who was joint artistic director with Mackenzie at Chichester Festival, Sir Brian McMaster, former director of the Edinburgh International Festival and Craig Hassall, managing director of English National Ballet and former head of the Cultural Olympiad for the Australian Olympics more HERE. And they all report to Tony Hall. Sounds like a recipe for clear decision-making, then.

Philanthropy

Arts and Business report that the total figure for private sector investment in culture for 2008/09 fell from its record high in 07/08 to £654.9 million in the UK decreasing by 7% (above inflation). Investment from all three private sector sources declined from the previous year: Business investment fell by 6% to £157 million and accounts for 24% of the overall contribution from the private sector. In 08/09, investment from individuals dropped to £363 million, a 7% decrease that ends the trend of fast-paced growth that began to accelerate in 05/06. Individual giving now accounts for 55% of the total private investment received in the sector. The amount of support from Trusts & Foundations also fell from £141 million to £135 million a 7% decrease now accounting for 21% of the total private investment in the cultural sector. More HERE. Ed commented ‘These figures are disappointing and reflect the effects of the economic recession. This is a wake-up call that we need to get our economy back on track, in order to return to the levels of private giving we enjoyed in the 1990s and 2000s. Economic recovery is as crucial for the arts as it is for all parts of our economy’.

Heritage

The Public Accounts Committee report into Promoting Participation with the Historic Environment was published this week. Committee chair Edward Leigh MP said:

“The Department for Culture, Media and Sport gave English Heritage unrealistic targets to increase the number of visits to historic sites by people from three specific underrepresented groups. With no clear evidence of how the target levels might be achieved, English Heritage opted instead to focus on increasing its income from visitor attractions, at the expense of activities to increase participation’Full report HERE. We think this is yet another example of how Labour’s box-ticking is a misconceived approach to heritage and the arts.

The Art Fund has launched its campaign to raise £3.3 million to save the Staffordshire Hoard HERE. We wish them every success and of course will make a donation.

Libraries

Rather than staying at home and building snowmen this winter, Bloomsbury have conceived Bloomsbury Library Online to support public libraries and literacy in an innovative, experimental and socially inclusive way using existing computers and devices within the local library, internet-enabled mobile phones, or remotely from home or elsewhere with a library card. Currently offering seventy books, from forty-eight authors to 2.4 million readers through UK public libraries, we think this is great news, more HERE

West Sussex County Council also has plans to deliver 21st century library services more HERE.

Predictions for the new decade include: ‘a very strong independent sector, the growth of the e-book market and a continued fight for library campaigners are some of the predictions for next year made by figures from the retail, library and digital sides of the trade.’ according to The Bookseller, more HERE.

Archives

The National Archives Education Department has set up a Twitter feed that lets people get a unique perspective on the opening months of the Second World War. Starting from 1 January, summaries and links to Cabinet papers relating to that date in 1940 are posted – the result is a day by day view of the Second World War from the War Cabinet’s point of view, using real documents You can follow the tweets and follow the links to read the original documents capturing the decisions of the men who determined the fate of the nationHERE. For non-tweeters, you can find Cabinet Papers 1915-1978 online HERE.

Natalie Ceeney is stepping down from her post as CEO at The National Archives. Oliver Morley will be Interim CEO, the Ministry of Justice will be handling the new appointment, more HERE. We wish Natalie well for the future, she has been an outstanding leader.

Museums

The findings of an NMDC project looking at how national and regional museums work together was launched this week, more HERE.The NMDC has also published Museums’ Deliver demonstrating the wide-ranging social and economic importance of museums in the UK. Full report HERE.

Kids in Museums have launched their manifesto today, highlighting the need for flexible family tickets HERE.

In America, is it time to start selling some works to balance the books in museums and galleries? More HERE and the piece caused such a storm there is a response HERE.

City of Culture

Birmingham will bid to be the UK’s first city of culture more HERE.

NCA

The National Campaign for the Arts have a lovely new website HERE.

Opera and Ballet

The Royal Opera House is the first big arts institution to join the tickets for troops scheme, more HERE. Dance, as someone in a cheese shop once said, is ‘staggeringly popular in the manor squire’ more HERE.

New Year’s Honours - Errors and Omissions

Thank you for pointing out the following omissions from our New Year’s Honours List – a knighthood for the brilliant architect David Chipperfield, CBEs for the outstanding Natalie Ceeney, soon to be ex head of the National Archives, the great singer Sarah Connolly, the awesome architect George Ferguson, and an OBE for the superb Julia Fawcett at the Lowry. Also the Director of Heart n Soul is Mark Williams (not Christopher Williams, a songwriter who works with them who received an OBE). Slapped wrists all round

In Parliament

Parliamentary Questions

More questions from Tom Watson on the Arts Council HERE

DCMS spending on travel costs for Ministers and Officials HERE

EDMs

EDM 583 – Technology Company Censorship HERE

Digital Economy Bill

The Bill is in the committee stage in the Lords – Hansard can be read HERE

Where we’ve been and who we’ve seen

PayPoint, the London Film Museum, VAGA, NMDC, Orange, Anthony Browne, RSA, V&A, Kids in Museums, NCA, Ideas Tap, The State of the Arts Conference, the Olympic site, BBC News Festival, OC&C Media Conference.

Ed Vaizey

Shadow Arts Minister

Jeremy Hunt

Shadow Culture Secretary

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Weekly email 17-12-09

December 17th, 2009 -

Tags:

Advertising, Awards, BBC, Books, BT, Censorship, Channel 4, Fashion, Filesharing, Film, Five, Music, Piracy, Radio, Television, Video Games

Here is this week’s news. There’s some stuff not in here, but that’s just because we’re saving it for our Christmas special!

Creative Industries

Video Games

Labour MP Tom Watson has suggested that the BBC could ‘really help’ small developers. He suggests that the corporation could allow developers to showcase applications or games on the BBC website, with the studio then able to look at commercial routes as well. More HERE.

Two more games courses have been accredited by Skillset, putting them among the ranks of the UK’s elite games training grounds. Congratulations to Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Abertay more HERE.

Ed has been interviewed by Midlife Gamer, along with Don Foster and Sion Simon: HERE.

Children and Advertising

Ed Balls has published a report on: ‘The Impact of the Commercial World on Children’s Wellbeing’. Amongst its findings, the report says that the commercial world provides children with important opportunities in terms of entertainment, learning, creativity and cultural experience. Full report HERE. Press release HERE. .

The Advertising Association has published a response, HERE with chief executive Tim Lefroy saying: ‘This is a measured and thoughtful review of the role the commercial world has in society and particularly for children and young people. We are playing a full role in various initiatives as part of our responsible approach to marketing to children’

Online Piracy

YouTube are considering offering subscription services that allow users to watch major new TV shows and films online. Some broadcasters including Channel 4 and Five have already forged deals with the website to show full-length programmes online, Youtube is now considering paid options as well. More HERE.

Australia introduces web filters that restrict access to criminal content, HERE. As you can imagine twitter is not happy, HERE.

Online security group Detica is launching a system that can monitor illegal filesharing over Virgin Media’s Network. It has dismissed concerns that it could be used to identify and spy on individual users, saying ‘customer privacy is at the very heart of this’ more HERE.

Mobile Networks

In Norway and Scandinavia the first 4G mobile network becomes available, HERE. 4G is 10 times faster than the best mobile internet in this country.

BBC Worldwide

Mark Thompson has hit back at calls to sell of Worldwide, saying it will be an ‘empty vessel’ if it is sold. More HERE and HERE. We now have absolutely no idea what the BBC actually wants to do with Worldwide…sell it? keep it? sell part of it?

Channel 4 and TalkTalk have announced they will join Canvas, the proposed venture with the BBC, ITV, Five and BT to deliver television programmes and other online content via broadband more HERE. We think this great news.

Almost a third of the entire country tuned in to watch the final of X-factor, well over half of the total TV audience, HERE.

Music

Rage Against the Machine was outselling X Factor Winner Joe McElderry in the midweek sales figures, more HERE. More than 500,000 people have joined a campaign on Facebook encouraging people to by the 1992 single Killing in the Name in an attempt to upset Simon Cowell’s domination of the Christmas charts.

Film

The BSAC have published a report into Creativity, Competitiveness and Enterprise more HERE. which calls on the Government to stimulate competition, create a UK silicon valley liberate public service content from TV and create a copyright regime that facilitates decentralised creativity and access to content in the broader ecology. HERE. This is an interesting report which we will be looking at closely.

Pinewood studios have announced that they will open a studios in Malaysia more HERE.

Fashion

Good news from Burberry which has said it will show in London again at the A/W 2010 shows in February, more HERE.

The Guardian Fashion Awards for the year are out HERE. And no, we have no idea what that thing on Madonna’s head is either.

Radio

Made in Manchester’s second online drama with the Indy is online now HERE. We think this project is an interesting development which opens up new radio platforms other than the BBC.

Awards Season

Just starting to warm up, with the Golden Globe nominations out. Congratulations to British nominees Helen Mirren, Carey Mulligan and Emily Blunt more HERE.

Arts and Heritage

Visual Art

Ed has been interviewed by Art Forum on our arts policies, HERE.

Film and Archives

The BBC and the British Library have brought together their collection of audiovisual archives to make them more widely available to the public HERE. Well done to both.

Books

A new website plans to use commuters’ music players to revive the art of the short story by selling audiobooks of work by famous writers. More HERE. Very good idea.

And Finally

Ed was interviewed by the BBC’s Hard Talk this week, talking about culture and media policies and the wider Conservative agenda more HERE. He vigorously denied he was posh.

Win a free cultural calendar on CultureLabel HERE

In Parliament

DCMS spending on public relations HERE

£1,100 on departmental photo shoots HERE

Departmental meetings with the music industry HERE

The cost of DCMS departmental away days HERE

Government Art Collection loans to public galleries HERE

Funding to ACE over the last five years HERE

1700 days lost to sickness at the DCMS HERE

Estimates for funding to the good causes in the years to 2015 HERE

Where we’ve been and who we’ve seen

ITV, Local Government Association libraries conference, Loyd Grossman, St Mary’s Tower Gloucester, Gloucester Folk Museum, Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester Museum (yes, we were in Gloucester), Tribal Education, Sally Greene… and George Osborne visited David Chipperfield and Neues Museum in Berlin and also met with Chairmen of three National Museums.

Ed Vaizey

Shadow Arts Minister

Jeremy Hunt

Shadow Culture Secretary

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Weekly email 10-12-09

December 10th, 2009 -

Tags:

Art, Awards, BBC, Broadband, Channel 4, Creative Industries, DCMS, Fashion, Film, Google, ITV, Libraries, Music, Ofcom, Quangos, Radio, Television, Video Games

Here is this week’s news:

Pre Budget Report

The Pre-Budget report, which you can download HERE, had little good news for anyone in the arts or creative industries. Buried in the detail (page 194) was confirmation that the DCMS resource budget would remain pretty much the same over the next two years and its capital budget would be cut from £0.9bn to £0.6bn.

Alistair Darling has also decided to press ahead with the phone line levy which we think will actually kill off private sector investment in superfast broadband HERE.

The film tax credit will be adjusted slightly to correct a ‘quirk’ in the legislation which restricts the available tax credit in an unintended way if there is increased UK spend in the second or later accounting periods full details HERE.

Alistair Darling has rejected a tax break from video games developers, as suggested in Digital Britain HERE. Ed has already said that we are actively considering a tax break for the industry, though we are also looking at other alternatives.

Taking a leaf out of David Cameron’s book they also announced a streamlining of quangos. This will include “rationalising up to a third of DCMS ALBs (arms length bodies), including streamlining ten DCMS advisory bodies and bringing forward plans for merging the UK Film Council and the British Film Institute” more HERE.

Creative Industries

Video Games

Tom Watson MP has called on ELSPA and TIGA to begin ‘forming an idea’ of a UK Games Council that would ‘run along the lines of the UK Film Council’ more HERE. This is something we have long advocated. We think this could be done by widening the remit of the UK Film Council, which would both encourage co-operation between these two sectors, and avoid the creation of a new quango.

Google

An excellent analysis of the implications of the Google book deal vis all creative content on the internet, and Google’s wider position in the global media world HERE.

Fashion

Congratulations to the winners at last night’s British Fashion Awards last night, though we hear that everyone was falling for Karen Elson, more HERE. Elson presented British Grace Coddington, creative director of American Vogue with the ‘fashion creator’ award.

Ahead of the awards, the British Fashion Council released their power 25 list more HERE

Ofcom

Ofcom’s draft Annual Plan for 2010/11 is out, more HERE. It includes three key areas including consumer and citizen, competition, and infrastructure and spectrum. Their Consumer Experience Report, which has helped shape these priorities is also published HERE… need to find a link

Music

The number of people using personalised online radio services such as Spotify and Last FM is growing rapidly, according to RAJAR research: 4.5 million people used such services last month, up from 3.9 million in may and 2.9 million in October last year, more HERE.

Greg Dyke gave the annual Royal Television Society Christmas lecture last night. He called for the ‘unduly slow and bureaucratic’ BBC Trust to be abolished and its powers passed to Ofcom or a new body. He also said that he thought salaries across the TV industry were now too high, and that ITV and C4 have the opportunity to address this as they appoint new chief executives. More HERE. Given that Greg is chairman of our creative industries task force his views are particularly interesting, obviously.

There is a good story in the Telegraph on the future of local television HERE.

BBC Worldwide

The government has included BBC Worldwide in the portfolio assets it is considering selling and is urging the corporation to ‘look more widely at the options for greater financial and operational separation, including a sale or partial sale’ more HERE.

On the blog this week

What Lord Putnam would have said, had he been able to be there for the second reading of the Digital Economy Bill, HERE.

Arts and Heritage

Archives

A new archives strategy has been developed, consulted and published jointly by the National Archives and the MLA. More HERE. Congratulations to both organizations on this, which we think it is both clear and comprehensive and note that these two organizations have done all of this in less time than it’s taken not to have a library review.

Libraries

Stirring stuff on the Government’s spectacular failure to organise a drinks party in the proverbial brewery on libraries from Rachel Cooke in the Guardian HERE, and her longer piece in the spring HERE. We did write to her at the time to point out that she’d over looked Ed’s brilliant speech on the matter HERE. She seems to have overlooked his barnstorming performance at last week’s Review launch too. What’s a Shadow Minister to do to get the attention of the Guardian’s library champion you might wonder?

Meanwhile, thanks to an agreement brokered by the MLA, libraries are to get high speed broadband access, more HERE.

Music

Gustavo Dudamel has taken over as music director of the L.A. Philharmonic. The Venezuelan musician has attracted a level of media attention over the past few years normally only reserved for pop-stars, the kind of thing can cause concern in classical music circles. However, the New Yorker points out that: “notions of the irreconcilability of commerce and art smack of college-dorm Marxism, and run counter to the spirit of Beethoven, Verdi, and Mahler, who addressed themselves passionately to the general public.” To read the article in full HERE

RBS Art Collection

RBS have given in to pressure and agreed to open its art collection to the public. Thought to be one of Scotland’s finest private art collections, some of its most outstanding works will be lent to galleries and community arts projects. More HERE. We welcome this news, although we would like to see more British companies, including banks, putting their arts philanthropy at the centre of what they do: It is part of their contribution to wider society. Credit Suisse is currently running a US ad campaign which highlights how proud they are of supporting the New York Philharmonic in the current economic climate, more HERE. We would like to see more UK companies doing similar things.

Management of the Crown Estate

The Treasury Sub-Committee has announced a new inquiry into the administration and expenditure of the Crown Estate. The inquiry will look at how effectively the Crown Estate Commissioners are rising to the challenges they face including, for example, the development of renewable energy, and the extent to which they are achieving their objectives to earn a surplus for the benefit of the UK taxpayer, and enhance the value of their estates in each of their four business areas: The Urban Estate (commercial and residential property in London and elsewhere): The Marine Estate (includes 55% of the UK’s foreshore, and almost all of the seabed out to the 12 mile nautical limit), The Rural Estate (agricultural land, forests, and residential and commercial property in England, Scotland and Wales), Windsor Estate (includes the Royal Park) more HERE.

Turner Prize

Congratulations to painter Richard Wright, winner of this year’s Turner Prize, more HERE

And Finally

The Telegraph have recognised Ed for distinguished services to the arts, more HERE.

In Parliament

Parliamentary Questions

Forthcoming information on PR spending at the DCMS HERE

£126,000 on entertainment at the DCMS HERE

Visits to Museums and Galleries in Yorkshire and the Humber HERE

Just half of DCMS Parliamentary Questions are answered on time HERE

Early Day Motions

EDM 323 – Save Our Sound Campaign HERE

EDM 374 – Museums, Galleries, Councils and Gardens HERE

EDM 403 – Free Broadband Access in Towns HERE

Where we’ve been and who we’ve seen

Goldman Sachs(!), Turner Prize, Dell, MLA, launch of all-party group for Ethical Fashion, London International Festival of Theatre, Local Government Association, Munira Mirza, Serpentine Gallery, Matthew Freud, Conservative Arts and Creative Industries Network generously hosted by Rory Coonan, Turner and the Masters at the Tate, Ingenious and Microsoft Radio Spectrum seminar, Creative and Cultural Skills, BFI, Deloitte, Avatar premiere, Jingle Bell Ball, British Library, Charlie Caminda from Ludorum, new chairman of BBC Worldwide, Carphone Warehouse, V&A, Independent Publishers Forum, Hutchison Whampoa, Selina Scott, Google, Bollywood Festival at the Reel Cinema in Loughborough.

Ed Vaizey

Shadow Arts Minister

Jeremy Hunt

Shadow Culture Secretary

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News Summary: 24th November 2009

November 24th, 2009 -

Tags:

Awards, BBC, Film, Murdoch, Twitter, Video Games

Julie Walters wins Best Actress in the Emmys for her performance as a doctor with an incurable neurological disease in the BBC Drama “A Short Stay in Switzerland”. Sir David Frost also took the Founders Award. See the BBC covering the Emmys, HERE.

The Evening Standard’s Theatre Awards were also presented yesterday, HERE. Othello star Lenny Henry won Outstanding Newcomer, Rachel Weisz won Best Actress for A Streetcar Named Desire, and Sir Ian McKellen won the Special Award for his lifetime of contribution to British Theatre while Jerusalem took Best Play and Best Actor. Congratulations all round.

The BBC is accused of wasting more public funds, spending £150,000 on giving away trees and seeds to garden centres, the Taxpayers’ Alliance accused it of acting like a “charity with a bottomless pit of cash”, HERE.

New Moon, the second movie in the vampire series Twilight, has broken US Box Office Records taking in £44m in its first 24hrs, HERE and HERE.

In response to Murdoch’s discussions of limiting the indexing to his newspaper sites and doing deals with Microsoft, HERE; Twitter’s founder urges Murdoch to see that “the future is openness” HERE.

Speaking at the London 140 character conference, Stephen Fry says “Think of Twitter or the internet like the invention of the printing press”, see a greater snippet of his speech HERE.

Video Games have been slammed by Human Rights groups for openly allowing players to commit ‘virtual’ war crimes, HERE. Meanwhile Tom Watson MP tells politicians to “stop whingeing and learn to love video games”, HERE.

Sweden seems to be having great success with anti-piracy laws, HERE. While here the Digital Economy Bill is causing disquiet amongst consumer rights groups. The No 10 ePetition against the bill tops 11,000 signatures, HERE.

Youtube opens up to deaf viewers by rolling out automatic subtitles, HERE.

…and finally, in Music News, Silvio Berlusconi is Rolling Stone magazine’s ‘rock star of the year’, HERE.

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