UK Music

Launched on September 26, 2008 UK Music is an umbrella organisation which represents the collective interests of the production side of UK's commercial music industry: artists, musicians, songwriters, composers, record labels, artist managers, music publishers, studio producers and music collecting societies. Feargal Sharkey, former member of The Undertones became Chief Executive Officer and Andy Heath, former chairman of British Music Rights (BMR) became chairman.

Feargal Sharkey left the organisation in November 2011 with Jo Dipple taking over as Acting CEO. UK Music confirmed on January 27, 2012 that Jo Dipple would formally become the next CEO.

Members include the Association of Independent Music (AIM), the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters (BAC&S), BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, PRS for Music, the MMF, the Music Publishers Association Limited (MPA), the Musicians Union (MU) and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL).

Core goals are stated to be to promote awareness and understanding of:

• The interests of the UK music industry at all levels
• The value of music to society, culture and the economy
• Intellectual property rights and how they protect and promote creativity
• The opportunities and challenges for music creators in the digital age

In November 2008, the magazine Music Week reported that UK Music CEO Feargal Sharkey, had written to Sir Ian Blair, then head of the Metropolitan Police Service, and Information Commissioner Richard Thomas "to clarify the 'use and purpose' of form 696, which asks for personal details on artists and musicians performing at gigs and the style of music they will be playing." In his letter Sharkey wrote "the collection of this personal Data by the Met Police in advance of a musical performance is not light touch. In explicitly singling out performances and musical styles favoured by the black community: garage and R&B, and MCs and DJs, we believe the use of risk assessment form 696 is disproportionate, unacceptable and damaging to live music in the UK.”

In December 2008, UK Music launched Sound Rights, a free online resource for teachers and schools to support music study in schools. This was aimed at supporting the study of "the role of music and musicians in society, the music industry and of artistic and intellectual property rights.” In an interview with ISP Review in January 2009, UK Music Press Officer Adam Webb outlined the organisation's plans for tackling the problems of illegal file sharing over the internet and building working relationships with Internet Service Providers.