New Order legend Peter Hook joins UCLan academics for online music conference

Taking place at 2pm, the bassist and co-founder of Joy Division and New Order will be joined by academics and music industry experts.

Entitled The Present and Future of Music Law, panellists will be discussing the business and legal ramifications of a post-Covid music world.

UCLan Honorary Fellow, Peter Hook said: “When I became a musician in 1976, I did not see how these two, music and the law, would ever have anything in common. I would learn later how much they actually did and sadly I am still learning.”

Offering their expert advice will be Ann Harrison, Consultant and director at leading specialist music law firm SSB, Sumit Bothra, Managing Director of ATC Management Europe, and senior music industry executive Silvia Montello.

Hosting the conference will be UCLan lecturer, consultant and music industry advisor Tony Rigg.

Tony said: “The UK music industry was a vibrant, fast-growing and commercially successful sector before the pandemic hit, contributing £5.8bn a year to the UK economy and supporting almost 200,000 jobs. Then Covid-19 impacted profoundly on the consumption of both recorded and live music.

“Today the industry is emerging into a new landscape and we will be discussing recent and new developments, particularly within music law, that affect anyone who makes music or is involved in the business of music.

“We will consider the very hot topic of music streaming and look at the recent DCMS Committee review which raised concerns with the way the recorded music industry is structured and called for a ‘complete reset of streaming’.”

The conference will be live-steamed on Youtube, so attendees can comment and ask questions, however it will also be available to watch afterwards.

The discussion will be followed by a look at a new book from Bloomsbury Publishing called ‘The Present and Future of Music Law’, edited by Ann Harrison and Tony Rigg, which will be released tomorrow.