House of Lords Calls for Business Rate Relief for UK Music Studios

On February 10, members of the House of Lords in the UK came together to lead a cross-party effort for studios to receive business rate relief. Lord Clement-Jones, longstanding member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Music, brought forward a parliamentary debate about the UK Government’s continued exclusion of music studio from the Non-Domestic Ratings (Definition of Qualifying Retail, Hospitality or Leisure Hereditament) Regulations, also referred to as RHL.

What was said?

Making his point, Lord Clement-Jones remarked, “By drawing the lines of eligibility too narrowly, these regulations inadvertently exclude the engine room of our £8 billion music industry”. He further added, “If it becomes too expensive to record here, artists will simply move to eastern Europe or the United States. We are already seeing top UK artists recording major projects abroad. The urgency cannot be overstated.”

Many other Lords spoke about the importance of these studios, and how they have helped shape the country’s culture and economy. Rather ironically, Lord Watson quipped, “To borrow a lyric from a song recorded by the Korgis at Crescent Studios in early 1980, I say to the Minister – Change your heart, look around you.”

You can read the entire debate transcript here.

Why does this matter to UK Music Studios?

An MPG survey found out the business rates for music studios had increased by almost 25%. It was also found that no studios were able to increase their prices in response to the rates. Shockingly, almost 50% of the studios surveyed were considering closing operations within the next year.

As per MPG, inclusion in the RHL category would provide, “on average, a 40% reduction in business rates”. This would be a quite welcome move for more than 500 music studios operating across the UK. These studios generally operate on thin margins due to their high operational costs. Some studios require up to 85% occupancy just to financially break even and recoup their investment.

What is the controversy behind the law?

Last October, the UK Government introduced The Non-Domestic Rating (Definition of Qualifying Retail, Hospitality or Leisure Hereditament) Regulations. This law defines which entertainment establishments qualify for lower business rate multipliers. It has faced strong criticism, especially from music venues, studios and pubs, as they were ineligible to receive these tax breaks.

Facing pressure, the government announced a revised RHL (retail, hospitality and leisure) relief scheme on January 27. This finally made pubs and music venues eligible for the lower business rates. However, much to the dismay of UK Music and Music Producers’ Guild, music studios were exempt from the relief.

What’s next for UK Music Studios?

Speaking on behalf of the government to conclude the debate, Treasury Secretary Lord Livermore said that he couldn’t commit to “targeted relief”. There is still hope, as he did mention, that all taxes and reliefs are always under government review. These regulations come into effect starting April 2026. In the meanwhile, MPG and UK Music have started a petition to recognize recording studios as RHL-eligible which has received over 1700 signatures as of February 17. You can sign the petition here.

You can read UK Music and MPG’s joint statement here.

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