Live music or entertainment needs a TEN : As of 2007, if you want to put on nearly any form of live musical or entertainment event, to which the public are invited, at a location that does not have a suitable Premises Licence - even for charity, or in a school - then, for single events you probably need to fill in a Temporary Events Notice (TEN) form, pay £21, and tell the police. Morris Dancing and 'similar' dancing is an exception, if the music is unamplified. Even for private events it could still be worth checking with the council first, particulary if there is alcohol. For more info see the KentFolk notes on the government's guidance document. The Temporary Events Notice (TEN) forms should be available from your local area council - for Canterbury, go to their page on : Serving A Temporary Events Notice, and download the form.
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to ... recognise that music and dance should not be restricted by burdensome licensing regulations." : What is your perception of the effects of the new licencing laws ? In particular, how do they seem to be affecting the music - are you losing pubs and other music venues ? There was an official e-petition regarding these laws, see the text below. This e-petition shows signs of being a possibly very influential petition - the number who signed grew rapidly - when the letter was sent by Doug Bailey the petition had accummulated 2,800 signatures, and was in position 19 - as of Sunday evening, 4th February, with 7,738 signatures and in position 12 - in mid March it had over 50,000 signatures, and was in position 3 - now in mid April it has nearly 70,000 signatures and is in position 2. By in early May it was in position 1, but the rate of increase was dropping off. The deadline to sign by was 11th June, and by then it had achieved 79,873 signatures. This appears to be the third highest of all the e-petitions to-date - The government have just (at the start of July) published an interim response to this petition : /www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page12238.asp. The Live Music Forum (LMF) was established in 2004 following the passage of the Licensing Act, 2003, to monitor the impact of the Act on live music, and to promote live music performance. It comprises representatives from across the industry and non- commercial sectors, as well as local government and the hospitality industry. Steve Heap of FAE has been sitting on the Live Music Forum, and has recently fed info back through SEFAN. The Department for culture media and sport, in association with the Live Music Forum contracted Ipsos-MORI in July 2006 to carry out a survey focused on the experience of smaller venues in applying for new licenses following the introduction of the new Licensing Act 2003. The research brief and the resultant reports are discussed on the department's website. The results of the Live Music Forum investigation are due to be published in July 2007, and the government say they will then review the Licencing Act in the light of this report.

If you like live music - as opposed to just canned and pre-prepared entertainment, which is un-regulated - and believe that live music and dancing should not be treated as though they were dangerous to the public, then this e-petition to the prime minister was your chance to make your views known : http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/licensing/