Analysis March 2021: Complexity crisis

For the music industry, peeling the onion of the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) remains an eye-watering experience. What is the full impact of the deal on the livelihoods of British musicians? The answers to this complex question will continue to reveal themselves throughout 2021, but already a number of key issues have come to the fore. EU visas and work permits are now under public scrutiny: industry bodies have been up in arms at the added complexity and costs that will be involved for musicians and ensembles navigating the rules for multi-country tours. Given that differing visa and work permit rules now apply across each of the 27 EU member states and that applications are taking up to three months, it’s difficult to see how tours at short notice will be even remotely viable…