UK Music

In November 2008, the magazine Music Week reported that 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."[6]

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.”[7] 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.[8]

In August 2018 UK Music and its members launched the #LoveMusic campaign, which sought to publicise the positive impact the European Parliament Copyright Directive would have on music creators, ahead of the vote on 12 September 2018. The campaign’s logo featured a butterfly created from a treble clef to symbolise the fragile ecosystem of the music industry, emphasising how creators needed protection or the world of music and music fans would suffer. The campaign urged people to sign a petition to be sent to MEPs. It also aimed to inform the public about how tech giants like Google and YouTube benefited from outdated copyright laws.

On 6 September 2018 UK Music pulled together key industry figures and music creators outside Google’s offices in London to highlight the campaign with a busking stunt that received national media coverage. Suede frontman Brett Anderson, Blur drummer Dave Rowntree, Newton Faulkner and Ed Harcourt performed live as part of the campaign. MPs who joined the event in Kings Cross included Deputy Labour Leader and Shadow Culture Tom Watson MP, Shadow Culture Minister Kevin Brennan MP, prominent Lib Dem peer and digital economy spokesman Lord Clement-Jones, and former Deputy Speaker and Conservative MP Nigel Evans. Madeleina Kay performed her song Stand Up For Your (Copy)Rights outside the tech giant’s building, before a chorus of artists, led by Misty Miller and arranged by The Ivors Academy chair Crispin Hunt, performed Arcade Fire’s song Wake Up.

In further support, UK Music CEO Michael Dugher wrote a piece for Record of The Day outlining UK Music’s stance on the Copyright Directive. “When it comes to protecting the future of our music industry and finally start ensuring that the creators of music content get fair rewards, I hope MEPs will vote to finally ‘Make Google Do It,’” he wrote.

On the day of the vote, UK Music’s chairman Andy Heath also supported the campaign with a statement on the UK music website.

UK Music celebrated Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market being approved on 26 March 2019 and confirmed by the Council of the European Union on 15 April 2019.