Will UK Music Industry Be Trumped?

Following concerns over the ability to work across European borders because of Brexit earlier this year, the U.K. music industry has raised doubts over the implications that Donald Trump’s US election victory will have for British acts touring the US.

Chief Executive of UK Music Jo Dipple has pondered the “clear similarities” Trump’s victory has with Brexit, telling Music Week: “There is a political mood which favours protecting national interests both in the U.S. and in the U.K”, adding that there were ongoing concerns about Visa issues: “The Trump victory will undoubtedly bring with it visa implications for overseas nationals and therefore British bands who want to work in the U.S. This compounds ongoing concern about the visa system for British musicians visiting the US, as well as the 27 remaining EU markets which are dependent on the yet-to-be detailed withdrawal from the EU”.

The truth is that no one knows what the implications and impact will be, and with so many of Trump’s policy areas unclear to say the least, the only certainty is uncertainty. However, nature abhors a vacuum and we can’t all just run screaming for the hills. Or can we?  If anyone wants The Gen, we’ll be cowering in a corner murmuring “yes we can” over and over.

Dipple also hopes that Trump’s skepticism of Google could bring about an “opportunity to challenge the grip that Google has had over White House copyright policy”, suspecting that the President elect may not play the game with big tech in the way that his predecessors did, so there is that.