New Report Reveals UK Music Industry Contributes Record £7.6 Billion To UK Economy

UK Music, the collective voice of the UK music industry, has released its annual economic report, This Is Music 2024. The report outlines the huge economic contribution the UK music industry makes to the economy.

It was a stellar year for live music with artists such as Beyonce, Burna Boy, Harry Styles, Blur, and Pink, Elton John and Ed Sheeran all playing big UK shows, while there were also standout performances in 2023 from emerging acts like The Last Dinner Party and English Teacher.

Exports received a further boost from international touring by British artists in 2023, including Harry Styles, Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Blur, Def Leppard, Sam Fender, and Arctic Monkeys, while Adele continued her 2023 residency at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

The key headline statistics in UK Music's 2024 report are: 

• UK music's contribution to the UK economy in 2023 hit a record £7.6 billion in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA) - up 13% from £6.7 billion in 2022. 
• UK music exports revenue in 2023 hit a new high of £4.6 billion - up 15% from £4 billion in 2022.  
• Total UK music industry employment in 2023 hit a record 216,000 (full-time equivalent posts) - up 3% from 210,000 in 2022.  

UK Music's Chief Executive Tom Kiehl welcomed the figures in This Is Music 2024 as evidence the “music industry is ideally placed to turbo charge the new UK government's mission to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7.”

However, the UK music industry faces a number of significant challenges that threaten its world-leading status.

Around 125 grassroots music venues across the country closed last year and more 350 are at risk of closure, according to the Music Venue Trust charity. 

An estimated 192 festivals have disappeared since 2019 and 60 festivals announced a postponement, cancellation or closure in 2024, according to the Association of Independent Festivals. 

UK artists now cumulatively account for less than 10% of global audio streams, whereas their collective share of global music consumption was estimated at 17% in 2015, according to the BPI. 

For the past two years, UK Music has surveyed British-based music creators and their experiences of Brexit for its This Is Music report. Of those whose income was impacted by Brexit, 87% said their earnings fell in 2023 - up from 82% of those surveyed in 2022.

This Is Music 2024 contains case studies from songwriter and performer Victoria Canal and record producer Catherine Marks who both tell their personal stories and outline some of the challenges facing artists and music creators. 

UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl said:

“The music industry is ideally placed to turbo charge the new UK government's mission to secure the highest sustained growth in the G7. 

“A decade which began with the pandemic, causing much devastation to the sector, has seen a resilient music industry emerge. International appetite for UK music remains strong, with exports growing by 15% to £4.6 billion. Employment continues to rise steadily at 3%, with 216,000 people now working in the sector.  

“This is not a time to be complacent, however. Far from it in fact. This is Music 2024 tells the story, based on real evidence and data from across the sector, that despite some very strong headline figures in 2023, the UK music industry has vulnerabilities too. 

“Increasing global competition, tough financial conditions for artists and the grassroots, as well as the wild west that is generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), are all conspiring to be significant challenges for the sector. 

“We are now at a tipping point, and if the problems we face are not addressed then future growth cannot be guaranteed.”

Tom Kiehl highlighted four key areas where urgent action was needed to help the UK's music sector grow in an increasingly competitive global market:

1. Promote changes to the law that safeguard against unregulated AI, and reject proposals that fail to achieve this.
2. Ensure every child and young person across the UK has access to free music making.
3. Introduce a cap on secondary ticket resale prices.
4. Fight for visa-free touring for musicians and crew.

UK Music's full recommendations to Government can be seen in our Manifesto for Music here. 

Please see the below information for definitions of Gross Value Added (GVA) and further explanation of the statistics:

• Gross Value Added (GVA) is the contribution the music industry makes to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the UK economy. We define GVA on the same basis as the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and current accepted economic convention. 
• Exports are the value of the final sales to purchasers who are resident overseas. This is a gross revenue figure, which is not the same as GVA, but export revenue does contribute to the music industry's GVA calculation. 
• Employment numbers show the direct employment contribution corresponding to the economic activities within the definition of the core music industry. These figures do not include employment that is indirectly sustained by these economic activities.