Dear Sir or Madam,

The following information is requested under the Freedom of
Information Act for the period from 1 January 2008 to date:

The total number of and approximate duration of any meetings held
between Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP, Secretary of State for Culture,
Media & Sport, and the following record industry lobbyists:

- Feargal Sharkey, Kathy Koester or other representatives of UK
Music and British Music Rights;

- Richard Mollett, Geoff Taylor or other representatives of the
British Phonographic Industry;

- John Kennedy or representatives of IFPI;

- Fran Nevrkla or representatives of Phonographic Performance
Limited.

If you decide to withhold any of the information requested, please
explain clearly why you have done so in your response, by reference
to the legislation. If your decision to withhold is based upon an
evaluation of the public interest then please clearly explain which
public interests you have considered and why you have decided that
the public interest in maintaining the exception(s) outweighs the
public interest in releasing the information.

If you are proposing to make a charge for providing the information
requested then please provide full details in advance together with
an explanation of any proposed charge.

We look forward to hearing from you promptly, as required by the
legislation, and in any case within 20 working days. We would be
grateful if you could acknowledge safe receipt of this request by
email.

Yours faithfully ,

Michael Holloway, Operations Manager, Open Rights Group

Dear Mr Holloway,

Thank you for your email of 19th December requesting:

"Music meetings 2008 - The following information is requested under the
Freedom of Information Act for the period from 1 January 2008 to date: The
total number of and approximate duration of any meetings held between Rt
Hon Andy Burnham MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport, and
the following record industry lobbyists: - Feargal Sharkey, Kathy Koester
or other representatives of UK Music and British Music Rights; - Richard
Mollett, Geoff Taylor or other representatives of the British Phonographic
Industry; - John Kennedy or representatives of IFPI; - Fran Nevrkla or
representatives of Phonographic Performance Limited."

I am dealing with your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(`the Act'). The Act gives you the right to:

* know whether we hold the information specified in your request and, if
that is the case,
* to have that information communicated to you, subject to the
provisions of the Act.

I am pleased to say that I can provide you with the information
requested. Between 1^st January and 19^th December 2008, the Secretary of
State for Culture, Media and Sport had the following meetings with the
organisations that you listed:

* 30^th October 2008 - British Phonographic Industry (duration 45
minutes)
* 16^th September 2008 - British Music Rights (duration 45 minutes)
* 30^th April 2008 - Phonographic Performance Ltd. (duration 30 minutes)

Please note that the duration was the scheduled diary time booked for each
meeting.

Information relating to meetings that all DCMS Ministers attend with
outside organisations and interest group is published on the DCMS
website. Below is a link to the Reference section of website:
[1]http://www.culture.gov.uk/929.aspx

A search of the archives for each month will reveal details of meetings.
If you need any help or advice or have any questions about this letter,
please contact me. Please quote the reference number in any
communications.
If you are unhappy with the way DCMS has handled your request you are
entitled to ask for an internal review of its handling within two calendar
months of the date of this letter.
If you wish to make a complaint you should contact: FOI Central Team,
Public Engagement and Recognition Unit, Department for Culture, Media and
Sport, 2-4 Cockspur Street, London, SW1Y 5DH
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: Information
Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9
5AF.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Osborne-James
Freedom of Information Team
Public Engagement and Recognition Unit
020 7211 2358

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