State of Play: Performing arts touring in the EU

Status / emerging findings

• 75% of Musicians' Union members who previously worked in the EU report income decline post-Brexit; 59% say EU touring is no longer viable
• UK orchestras have experienced 8% decline in touring earned income and 9% decline in overseas performances since January 2021, with 77% of pre-Brexit tours having targeted the EU
• The 90-in-180-days Schengen visa rule forces mid-tour crew changes (e.g. Robbie Williams), disrupting show quality and destabilising employment for touring staff
• Kate Nash lost £26,000 on her last European tour and £13,000 on a UK tour, forcing crew cuts and reliance on alternative income (OnlyFans)
• Fragmented visa and work permit rules across 27 EU member states with no centralised government guidance; smaller and emerging artists lack infrastructure to navigate complexity

Why it matters

UK performing arts—a £15bn cultural export—is being priced out of European markets by Brexit bureaucracy, threatening both working musicians' livelihoods and Britain's cultural soft power on the continent.

Tone arc

Started procedural in first session; sharpened into sector-wide crisis narrative by February hearing, with witnesses presenting quantified income losses and concrete examples of unsustainability rather than procedural complaint.

Key witnesses

Kate Nash (musician, Brit Award winner), Naomi Pohl (Musicians' Union general secretary), Hanna Madalska-Gayer (Association of British Orchestras), Matt Hood, Euan Livingstone, Tom Peters, Rt Hon Ian Murray MP (Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts), Karim Fatehi OBE (Chief Executive, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry)