The MU is articulating a very common opinion throughout the industry, that: “the possible introduction of work permissions and/or visas for British musicians touring and working in Europe could be extremely detrimental”. Hot Creations’ Denney says, “It’s just going to make our jobs more difficult as touring DJs. We are going to have to apply for visas, which is going to be a more lengthy and costly process for playing around Europe. I love how we can currently move around Europe freely, be in Barcelona one day then in Berlin the next with such ease. If this hard Brexit goes through, it’s going to take a lot more time for everything: the process of applying, getting, paying for a visa, then the actual queues in the airports are going to be longer with visa checks.”

Recording artist and Glitterbox DJ HiFi Sean is also aware of the likely leap in administration that Brexit will bring. “Zero freedom of movement between countries and sorting taxation and visas will just cause a lot of us who manage ourselves a lot of endless paperwork and cancelled shows.” The MU is running a campaign to lobby MPs to get reciprocal free movement for musicians and performers, because this concern with the end of free movement is part of a much larger picture. The UK music industry is huge, contributing about £4.4bn per year to the UK economy, and the end of free movement will affect the entire sector. The national membership body for the UK’s creative industries, the Creative Industries Federation, have drawn attention to the negative impact of Brexit on the creative sector, and UK Music chief executive Michael Dugher has warned of risks to the music industry from Brexit and called for a special “touring passport” for British artists after Brexit. The House Of Lords’ ‘Brexit: movement of people in the cultural sector’ report, released earlier this year, called for clarity on free movement for those in the creative industries post- Brexit, and also supports the idea of a ‘touring visa’ for performers.

So what does this all mean for DJs? If or when free movement of people ends in Europe for UK citizens, then as things currently stand, playing gigs in Europe will become much more complicated, expensive, and more time-consuming to arrange. The journeys will become more difficult, there will be more and longer border checks, and the ease with which we currently travel around Europe will be seriously curtailed.

This article has only looked at the practicalities for working DJs, but there is also a whole other discussion to be had about the wider cultural cost of isolating ourselves from other creative communities, and the negative impact of Brexit on the club scene, music industry, and the very make up of our dancefloors. As techno don Dave Clarke puts it, “Obviously it will affect freedom of movement and freedom to work, it may also affect flights/boats in and out of the UK. It will also have the possibility of putting off European talent coming to the UK, especially if what happened this year to WOMAD and other festivals pans out to all that are not born British that want to be at cultural events. The UK music industry is very important to the baseline GDP of the UK, yet it will clearly suffer tremendously.”

But are there any positives for DJs in the ending of free movement? The majority of the industry seems to be speaking with one voice on this subject, but there are some Euro-sceptics who can see an advantage for DJs in leaving the EU. Some have observed that if it becomes more difficult for non-UK DJs to visit the UK — and the likelihood of visas and the relative low DJ fees compared to Europe seem to suggest that it will — then there will be more room for local DJs, with the same true in European countries if less UK DJs are travelling abroad for gigs.