The law is a song

Musicians and promoters opposed the "spiritual and moral" regulation

On Thursday, December 24, well -known Russian musicians prepared an open letter, which opposed sharply against the bill adopted by the State Duma in the first reading of the bill on the regulation of concert activity. The letter was signed by Boris Grebenshchikov, Zemfira, Gleb Samoilov, Vladimir Shakhrin, Alexei Kortnev, participants of the Quartet and "; In total - more than 20 people. They stated that in no country in the world there is no such thing that promoters are united into self-regulating organizations, and concert venues were fined if they give a concert to someone not from this organization. The bill, offering all these measures, is preparing in the Duma for the second reading. Medusa talks about lobbyists and potential victims of this document.

“We are surprised that the musicians (for the sake of protecting the interests of which, including this bill were conceived) were not invited to take part in its development,” the musicians said . -We unknown examples of such a regulation of concert activity anywhere else in the world. We are asking us to stop the adoption of the bill in the form in which it exists now, and to finalize it taking into account the requirements of all those whose interests it affects. ”

The bill, about which actors and musicians are introduced, was introduced by State Duma deputies from United Russia and the Communist Party. He offers, in fact, to start regulating the concert business. If he is accepted, the organizers of concerts and festivals will have to unite and create, as it is written in the text, self -regulatory organizations (SRO). And concert venues from 400 square meters or more will have to work only with promoters included in these SROs. Otherwise, a fine is from 300 thousand to a million rubles.

In addition, promoters will have to make an annual membership fee from 150 to 300 thousand rubles in these new SROs. While the bill has not been adopted, this amount is specified. But even if the promoter organized one concert per year, the amount of the annual contribution will not decrease. It also does not change depending on the number of tickets sold. And this may affect their cost for the audience - the less the organization will hold concerts, the more expensive the tickets will be.

Each SRO should include at least 50 promoters - the bill in its current form does not spell out whether it is about legal entities or private and individual entrepreneurs. Only members of organizations will be able to conclude contracts for state, city and municipal events. The bill will not affect the Philharmonic, theaters and concert venues in schools. On December 15, he was adopted in the first reading.

“The burden on paying contributions for entry into the SRO will eventually fall on the audience and the performers,” the authors of the letter predict. - Ticket prices will increase and fees will be reduced. It seems that a group of people, consisting of large concert business players, lobbying for this legislative initiative, seeks to put this market under their control. ”

The initiators of the bill, in turn, say that it is more of a “spiritual and moral” character. One of his authors, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Culture Zugur Rakhmatullin, in a conversation with Medusa stated that concerts, show and the like-“not just a form of organization of leisure, but an invisible to the audience-worldview and spiritual”. According to her, it is high time to order this area of ​​activity. And according to the second co -author of the bill, the deputy from the Communist Party of the Communist Party of Sergei Gavrilov, "the state will be easier to control the organizers of mass events, as well as increase their safety."

“Usually, if the deputies leave the legislative initiative, this is not only their position. This is a reaction to the public opinion, to the proposals of specific people, ”Rakhmatullina told the Medusa correspondent.

One of the "public initiators" of the document is producer Andrei Matveev. “Even if a corporate event is organized on a large site, the organizing company will also have to enter the SRO,” he said , for example, he. So it coincided that Matveev is the general director of the only concert SRO already created in Russia - Soyuz Concert. Its founders include, in particular, producer Joseph Prigozhin and composer Igor Krutoy.

In an interview , Matveev explained that the SRO will become a "bridge between the market and the authorities." Inside this organization, a disciplinary commission will work, which will deal with "tracking the compliance of market participants with quality criteria." The criteria themselves were not voiced; Matveev only said that it would be more difficult to determine them than, for example, in the construction business. From the same interview, it is clear that the lobbyists of the bill were the largest participants in the tour and concert market-SAV Entertainment, PMI and NCA Mikhail Shurygin, already mentioned by Krutoy and Prigozhin, producer Alexander Prodman and others.

However, other promoters and organizers of entertainment events have already nicknamed the new bill with the second “Plato” - a means of collecting money from them. “In my opinion, the situation when the ambiguous law at the end of the year is first adopted without a wide discussion, and only then they look at the reaction of the professional community, it looks quite sad,” promoter Ivan Belash tells the Medusa correspondent. According to him, in the context of the economic crisis, the state, on the contrary, should provide additional opportunities for small businesses. In the case of show business-not to interfere with the development of indie groups and non-profit music, "and not to destroy competition in the entertainment market using an additional bureaucratic regulator in the form of a SRO."

Belash believes that the current players in show business throughout Russia are only about 150, and not a thousand, as stated in the explanatory note to the bill. Thus, no one will be able to create an alternative to the Soyuz Concount. And he will simply become a monopolist in the market.

“For sharks of show business, I think the law will not change anything. They serve state orders, and 150 thousand a year are overpowering. In addition, they do not carry the objectionable authorities of artists. And in 2014, concerts, for example, Noya MS and Andrei Makarevich were canceled. In 2015, no one planned them [concerts], ”said Alexander Safin, the head and founder of the SoundDadays agency from Kazan. He explained that it will be especially difficult for regional promoters working with small sites and non -profit music - they have completely different financial opportunities. Anton Zhukov, the organizer of the rock concerts in Vladimir, also believes: “The regions have a completely different situation [with entertainment events], and even Plato is resting in comparison with this bill.

Promoter Sergey Belyakov from St. Petersburg in an interview with Medusa said that the bill should have the norm that independent concert organizers are not required to enter the SRO - let it be voluntary. “Putin himself recently said, the fewer controlling organizations, the better,” he recalled.

“I firmly believe that it [SRO] should not exist in principle, since I am a responsible taxpayer, and I don’t understand why a group of people unfamiliar to me decided to take my business from me, allegedly insured by my business,” Sasha Dahl from the “Fruit” group, a project that acts on the evening Urgant show on the first channel. “Welcome to the Soviet Union, dear musicians,” she concluded.

Ani Hovhannisyan

Moscow