Charlie Clinton on stage at the Lib Dem conference in Brighton

A BIG ticket levy on megagigs like Oasis and Taylor Swift’s sellout runs at Wembley could be used to save the struggling elements of the UK music industry, Liberal Democrats were arguing this week.

Charlie Clinton, who stood against Sir Keir Starmer in Holborn and St Pancras at the general election in July, was in the thick of a demand for a “fair deal for music” on the conference stage here in Brighton.

A list of demands to help musicians and venues survive against rising costs and closures includes a levy on tickets sold for big concerts which would raise money to support grassroots ones – often the places where bands and artists get their first chance to play to an audience.

Madness, Coldplay, Blur and Amy Winehouse all cut their teeth in music pubs in Camden Town.

In his speech to members, Mr Clinton – himself a trumpet player and band leader – said: “The levy would guarantee the future of these valuable community assets as it has done in France and it will also help to ensure a strong pipeline of talent in the future.

Taylor Swift sold out Wembley Stadium [Raph_PH]

“Let’s be really clear these big venues can afford it. The average ticket price is £84 and Taylor Swift sold 712,000 tickets for her eight Wembley shows. Just based on that, that would be £60 million for eight nights.”

He said that a DCMS (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) report had recommended the mega venues voluntarily bring in the measure – but none had done so. Mr Clinton said he had “personally reminded” Mr Starmer of this when he ran against him in July.

“Everything may appear fine at the top of the music scene, even Oasis are back,” he said. “But the foundations are crumbling. What will it look like in 10 or 20 years if we don’t tackle these challenges now? Our music industry will decline and we will be culturally, financially, creatively poorer as a nation.

“To paraphrase Don Mclean, I do not want to see the day the music dies.”

The list of proposed measures, which was also brought before Camden by Lib Dems earlier this year, also includes removing VAT for music venues on a short term basis to give them “financial headroom” before a levy could be brought in.

Mr Clinton warned that 16 per cent of small venues had closed last year, and music education and access to instruments was in decline.

He also said local authorities needed to stop treating all music as a nuisance for neighbours when performers were practising at home in the day, and that red tape caused by Brexit had to be overcome to help young artists tour Europe again.

“This is vital this is vital to create the next generation of musicians,” he said.