UK Music has published This is Music 2024, its annual report outlining the vast contribution the UK music industry makes to the country’s economy.
Among the key findings of the new report is the statistic that the industry contributed a record £7.6bn in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy in 2023. This is up 13% from the £6.7bn that was reported in 2022.
Revenue from UK music exports also hit a new high of £4.6bn in 2023, up 15% from £4bn in 2022, while music industry employment in the UK increased by 3% in 2023 to reach a record 216,000 (full-time equivalent posts).
In terms of exports, international touring by such UK artists as Harry Styles, Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Def Leppard, Sam Fender and Arctic Monkeys — as well as Adele’s Las Vegas residency — all contributed to the record figure.
In a statement, UK Music’s Chief Executive Tom Kiehl welcomed the figures 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’.
The report also highlights the various challenges facing the UK music industry, from venue closures (citing the Music Venue Trust, around 125 UK grassroots music venues closed in 2023, while more than 350 are at risk of closure) to festivals continuing to be under threat. According to the Association of Independent Festivals, an estimated 192 festivals have disappeared since 2019 while 60 festivals announced a postponement, cancellation or closure in 2024.
Speaking about the findings, Tom added: ‘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 £4.6bn. 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.’
You can read the This Is Music 2024 report in full here.
