Music sector contributes billions to UK economy, outpaces country’s growth

Image: Jessie J

The fourth edition of UK Music’s annual Measuring Music report says that the music sector contributed £4.1 billion (A$7.25 billion) to the UK’s economy in 2015 in in GVA (Gross Value Added).

That was an improvement of just 0.6% on the year before but was up 17% on 2012 when UK Music began collating figures.

Musicians, composers, songwriters, performers and lyricists alone contributed £2 billion (A$3.5 billion) in 2015.

But for growth to continue, the Government must put in place policies that safeguard Britain’s access to other markets, warns UK Music, the umbrella body that represents everyone in the music industry from songwriters to record labels.

It wants more assistance and investment, and for the powers-that-be to take notice of solutions and challenges it has come up with. 

Much of the sector’s growth was due to British music’s success across the world, gaining a 17% share of the global music market. Music exports contributed £2.2 billion (A$3.8 billion) in revenue in 2015.

Culture Secretary Karen Bradley responded to the report: "Of all the albums sold across the globe last year an incredible one in six was by a British artist. The extraordinary success of artists like Coldplay and Adele added billions to our economy. 

“We want to maintain and build on that success. The Government is working closely with industry bodies, such as UK Music, to make it easier for these artists to do business and is investing in music education to nurture the next wave of successful British artists, who we want to see perform across the whole world."

Over the past four years, the UK music industry has outperformed the UK economy in terms of economic growth.

While the UK GDP grew by 10% between 2012 and 2015, the music industry’s contribution to GDP increased by 17% over the same period.

Employment and exports were up 11% in those four years. 119,020 full time jobs were provided within the music industry in 2015, a rise of 4%.

The live sector’s contribution to the economy dipped last year as revenues dropped 2% to £3.7 billion ($6.5 billion). But it nevertheless remained robust with a total audience of 27.7 million attending live music events in the UK.

The dip was, according to Measuring Music, caused by the loss of many venues. It called for help for the sector, stating, “We need policies and investment to secure a platform for the headliners and chart toppers of tomorrow.”

Export growth in the live sector was 35%, bolstered by a rise in music tourism – over 767,000 overseas music tourists attended live music concerts and festivals in 2015 generating £1.1 billion ($1.9 billion) towards the UK economy.

British recorded music continued to dominate charts with five of the top 10 selling artists in the world last year. It helped music exports grow up 8.9% from 2014, bolstered especially by the success of Adele, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith.

Adele’s 25 album alone looks like growing the UK music sector for 2016 after selling 20 million globally and picking up 10 x platinum in the UK. 

The report advices, “In order for the (recorded music) sector to continue to grow we must work on policies that will maintain our export power, especially as we prepare to enter a post-Brexit marketplace.”

Another key to British music’s growth last year was subscription streaming, with the value of paid services jumping by 49% from £168 million ($297 million) in 2014 to £251 million ($443.9 million) in 2015. 

However, there was a challenge in that the sharp rise in digital music consumption was not being reflected by a corresponding rate of revenue growth, Measuring Music pointed out.