London music scene set to thrive now 'racist police form' scrapped, industry experts say

Giggs: The rapper's 2010 tour was cancelled on police advice.
Tabatha Fireman/Getty Images
Francesca Gillett11 November 2017

Live music in London is set for great things, industry representatives have said after the Met Police canned a controversial form accused of discriminating against grime and R&B artists.

The Mayor of London and culture minister Matt Hancock campaigned alongside club promoters, DJs and venues for the London police force to have a rethink of the form amid concerns it was racist.

Many believed the form, which asks for the names and contact details of all artists and promoters involved in a gig, was being used to unfairly crack down on the grime, garage and bashment genre.

Rapper Giggs’ 2010 tour was cancelled on police advice and artist P Money said he has been removed from gig line-ups because of information on the form.

Music industry representatives welcomed the news widely.

Stormzy: One of London grime's biggest success stories.
AFP/Getty Images

“We are very pleased that they have been listening to us and the work we have been doing,” said Dave Webster, the head of live performance at the Musicians Union which represents 3,000 artists.

“We all want safe gigs, of course we do. But form 696 wasn’t the way to go about it.

“It’s [the scrapping of form 696] going to take away a lot of the possible restraint, it’s going to help young performers who don’t feel they have to go through this form filling which has previously put them off.

“I’m very optimistic that this will mean great things for live music in London and all genres. I hope it will even the playing field.”

​Crispin Parry, the boss of production company British Underground, hailed the news and said: “This is something we have been working on out of this office for the last 18 months or so.

“We had an artist try to put a gig on in Croydon and couldn’t so we set out on a mission. She said couldn’t get anything going. It was not only the form but the culture around the form, venues didn’t want to take the risk.”

He added that “people have come round to see the form is discriminatory”.

The boss of music industry organisation UK Music, Michael Dugher, said: “This is fantastic news. UK Music has campaigned to get rid of this unpopular restriction on our diverse and vibrant music scene.”

“It’s great that Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and London’s Night Czar Amy Lamé have listened to the concerns of the music industry."

“We thank him for showing leadership on this important issue and ensuring that the London remains a world beater when it comes to our cultural music mix.”

Rapper Giggs declined to comment when contacted by the Standard.

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, with Amy Lame, who is London's first Night Czar.
PA Archive/PA Images

Met Police Superintendent Roy Smith said the landscape of the night-time economy had changed and there had been a reduction in serious incidents.

“We have taken the decision to remove the Form 696 and instead develop a new voluntary partnership approach for venues and promoters across London,” he said.

Amy Lamé, chair of the London Music Board, welcomed the “fantastic decision” and said it was an important step in creating a 24-hour city that works for everyone.

The form was originally introduced in 2005 following several shootings at promoted club nights across London. In 2009, two questions asking for the ethnic make-up of the audience and music genre were scrapped from the form following complaints of racism.

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