Photo: WENN
Hop Farm festival founder Vince Power has issued a statement about reports on being banned from staging live music after he was discovered operating without a license.
Hop Farm festival began in 2008, but then it was reported that the High Court recently heard that Power did not have permission to play live music at Hop Farm between 2009 and 2012.
Legal action was taken by the Performing Rights Society for Music, and Power did not attempt to defend the claims, with the order being made in his absence.
Over the years Power was said to be operating without a license, artists including Florence + The Machine, Morrissey and Paul Weller appeared at his festival.
Power has also been fined £7,987 in legal costs, and could face extra charges and even a prison sentence is he fails to obey the ban.
The following statement was then issued on Hop Farm Festival's Facebook page:
"On Friday 1st August BBC news published a news piece detailing that Vince Power is banned from staging live music events due to outstanding licence costs for PRS. Vince would like to state that he has not had any correspondence from PRS regarding this situation and was surprised to read about these supposed outstanding fees of £7,987, this is miniscule compared to the amount of money paid to PRS over the years by Vince Power and companies.
"If there was any money outstanding to PRS, this would have been dealt with by the administrators for Music Festivals PLC which went into administration in October 2012; PRS were notified.
"We would also like to say, that the most recent Hop Farm had nothing to do with Vince Power, or any of his companies. This was hijacked by another promoter, which used all previous Hop Farm logos and databases, Vince had no responsibility or involvement in this 2014 event.
"Speaking to Vince he explained "I am angry and disappointed that PRS have not contacted me by post, email or telephone. To say that I am banned from staging live music events for the sake of 7k, is damaging to my career. In light of the long strained relationship I have with them, I can only see this as PRS being vindictive and a means of deflection for what I see as the real problem within PRS; They have a long list of artists that are owed money which they do not pay. I am very happy for any Artists who have been chasing PRS unsuccessfully to contact me to see if there is a way we can group together and get the money they are owed.”"
Power was involved in promoting Spain's Benicassim Festival, and previously organised the Mean Fiddler club in London before founding Hop Farm festival.
