FORMER pop singer Feargal Sharkey arrived on a mission to the North-East yesterday to help decide the future of Britain's music industry.

As chairman of the newly-created government Live Music Forum, Mr Sharkey attended one of the final sessions of a three-day music convention at Stockton's Arc to discuss his job and how it might influence the region's music-makers.

The former punk rocker with the 1980s band Undertones, who also achieved solo hits with songs including A Good Heart and Never Never, agrees with the view that music is often the voice of protest and tends to be anti-establishment.

"Just over 50 per cent of the population attended a live music performance event in the past year, so I think the business is in better shape than many people realise," said Mr Sharkey, who took on the job in February after musicians protested that the cost of new Government licensing legislation for live music would stop venues booking performers.

The 45-year-old has been asked to lead the forum in producing an interim report, in July, which will study the effects of this legislation on live music. The Forum will then tackle a detailed study over two years and aim to make recommendations for improvements at a time when CD sales are falling.

"If all this leads to just one band in the North-East gaining a rehearsal space that they didn't have before, then I think I'll have achieved something," he said.

Mr Sharkey was invited to speak at the convention, organised by regional agencies From Teesside With Love and Generator.

The idea was to bring together as many people as possible from the North-East music scene to promote the industry.

Published: 15/05/2004