Elbow's Guy Garvey attacks 'pay to play' live gigs

Elbow frontman Guy Garvey has called for regulation of the live music industry in order to stop promoters "ripping off" young bands. Garvey hit out at "pay to play" schemes that still operate widely on the new music circuit, where a band is obliged to get a certain number of people through the door or pay for the shortfall. Speaking at the In The City music conference in Manchester, Garvey called for penalties against promoters operating such concerts. He said: "There needs to be something really strong in place if a promoter is found to be ripping off young bands. It's really, really unfair. It's basically playing on the hopes and dreams of people who are at the very first hurdle of their musical careers." Elbow spent almost a decade struggling before they even got an album out. It was almost a further decade before they finally made it big with the Mercury prize-winning The Seldom Seen Kid. Before they attained success, many of the band supported themselves working at Manchester's Roadhouse venue. Garvey recalled how certain clubs and promoters dealt with new talent. He said: "Quite often promoters would promise you that scouts would come in from different record labels. So you would put up with anything that they told you to do. "If I knew that you could get in touch with the Musicians' Union and I knew there was someone local who you could report said promoter to, that would be the way to do it. It should be the norm that you don't get ripped off. I think it should be policed more." Elbow are currently working on their fifth album.