SCOTTISH artists are being shut out of Europe because of Brexit, people from across the creative industries have warned.
Actors and musicians have said that rising costs, red tape and dwindling opportunities are forcing artists to lose out on jobs on the continent.
Since freedom of movement ended between the UK and the EU three years ago, Scots taking their shows across the English Channel have faced new restrictions.
Those travelling must now fill out a Carnet document, which accounts for each item taken over to Europe and costs around £500.
Cal Read, who manages Scottish band The Snuts as well as several others across the UK, said the Carnet is just the start of it.
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He told us: “It’s really difficult for artists now, especially those from the UK coming into Europe.
“There’s a lot of red tape and a lot of time to factor in. It’s very difficult to make decisions now in the same way.
“A lot of the way the music business works, especially for an artist trying to build a career with live music, sometimes opportunities come to you very last-minute and it’s really difficult now.
“If you’re offered a support show in Paris, if it was in 2015, you could take that show the day before knowing all you’d need to do is book your Eurotunnel. It wouldn’t be much different from doing a show across the country.
“Now, it’s really, really hard and the logistics of getting artists out is difficult and costly.”
Read said he is concerned that the time and money involved will mean bands who could have toured Europe won’t and as a result will lose a key audience.
Mohsen Amini, frontman of Scottish folk band Talisk, told us that touring in Europe is becoming less and less affordable.
He said: “It’s becoming harder to tour now because it’s more expensive. It’s turning more into what it’s like to tour America. We’ve done that and it’s very difficult.
“So if Europe turns to that, then I can see a lot of bands falling out of that and just touring the UK.
“Overall, it’s going to have a detrimental impact on the entire Scottish industry.
“It won’t die because we will never let it – but it will be that much more difficult to keep it alive.”
Musicians are also affected by visa limitations, Amini said, with some forced to cancel tours after using up all of their available travel days.
Like Amini, Read also has concerns that Europe will become the new America for UK artists, and will be just as hard to penetrate.
“My fear is that the cost of touring Europe now will have the same issue in the US where the fanbase can be great in the UK but not on the other side,” he said.
“So artists could grow in the UK but it’ll look a whole lot different in Europe. My fear is that people won’t make that commitment to go out to Europe because investment is becoming really expensive.”
Read said the extra red tape may seem simple and easy to people outside the industry, but for those in the music business, the cost can be high.
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“Time is money,” he said. “There may be extra forms but who is going to fill them out? We have to hire people who know how to fill out those forms properly, collate the equipment properly and we also need to hire a company to oversee those documents being properly accredited.”
As well as musicians, those in the acting world are suffering because of EU restrictions, according to industry union Equity.
The union’s Scotland official, Adam Adnyana, said performers are losing out on work because of post-Brexit barriers.
He told us: “We’ve seen casting directors call out for EU nationals or right-to-work holders which is excluding people that were previously able to compete in that market.
“Our members are asking us about how they can supplement the work they once got in Europe.”
Adnyana said there had been a lack of consideration for the creative industries and called for more to be done to help those across the sector.
The UK Government was approached for comment.
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