TONY HERRINGTON

Re: London Musicians’ Collective

The Wire magazine supports unequivocally the London Musicians’ Collective in its appeal against the cut in its Arts Council funding that was announced at the end of last year.

Below is a copy of the specially extended Masthead editorial column that will be printed in the forthcoming February issue of The Wire. The text lays out the reasons why The Wire believes it is crucial the LMC retain its Arts Council funding.

The UK’s New Music culture, which is more vibrant now than ever before, in spite of its ongoing financially parlous state, is sustained by an informal network of independent but mutually supportive organisations that have built new audiences for so-called experimental music but which operate for the most part way below the radar of public institutions and the national media. The Wire regards itself as a part of that network. More to the point, the LMC is one of its founding links, and one of its most crucial; its removal will threaten the stability of the entire structure.

The Wire urges the Arts Council to rethink its decision and restore the LMC’s funding forthwith.

TONY HERRINGTON
Editor-in-Chief & Publisher
THE WIRE MAGAZINE