Sir Paul McCartney

Stars back plea to support UK live music industry

Ed Sheeran, the Rolling Stones and Coldplay also signed the letter to the culture secretary warning of the impact of Covid-19 on venues and musicians.

It says the music industry faces "mass insolvencies", with gigs and festivals unlikely to return until 2021.

The organisers said there had already been "hundreds of redundancies".

Job losses have been reported across venues, agencies and promoters, they said.

Taylor Swift joins copyright law plea

More than 180 artists have signed an open letter criticising the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

They claim the law benefits companies that "exploit music for their financial enrichment", but not artists.

One journalist said the music industry was "making mischief" to get more money from sites such as YouTube.