UK music economy partially recovering but needs more government support

The good news: the UK music industry’s contribution to the UK economy in 2021 has increased by 26% from 2020. The bad news: it’s still down 31% from its pre-pandemic peak in 2019.

These numbers are british musican umbrella group of multiple sector-specific trade bodies in the country, and its new This is Music 2022 reportWe will use the release of this number to call on the UK government to provide greater support to the sector to avoid collapsing, highlighting how important it is in terms of our domestic economy and export strength. Did.

The UK music business contributed £4bn ($4.56bn) to the UK economy in 2021 across all sectors including recorded music, music publishing and live music. This is up from her £3.1 billion ($3.53 billion) in 2020. The years were heavily impacted by the pandemic, with restrictions applied at various stages of tours and festivals.

This growth, while encouraging, is still significantly below the £5.8 billion ($6.61 billion) generated in 2019 before the pandemic hit. was the best ever for

With parts of the industry completely shut down, Over a third of employees were laid off As the pandemic hit in early 2020, there were 128,000 jobs across the sector that year. As part of a slow recovery, this figure will rise to 145,000 in 2021. However, this is still a 26% decrease compared to his 197,000 jobs in the industry in 2019.

Exports will stand at £2.5 billion ($2.85 billion) in 2021, up 10% from 2020 but down 15% from the £2.9 billion ($3.3 billion) reported in 2019.

Jamie Njok-Goodwin, CEO of UK Music, said government support was urgently needed as the industry still faced “significant threats from strong economic headwinds”.

The report states: This was a major factor in the decline in the economic contribution of the music industry. “

Njoku-Goodwin adds:new prime minister [Liz Truss] He said he wanted to cut taxes to stimulate growth.If she’s serious, she should use the emergency budget to reduce the tax burden on the music industry. […] This will spur investment and boost British music exports, which are at risk due to increased international competition and problems associated with Britain’s exit from the European Union. “

The UK music business faces three threats in recent years.

First, leaving the European Union (also known as Brexit) has made leaving the EU more difficult and costly. UK artist joins tour on mainland Europe.

Second, the pandemic has resulted in entire businesses shutting down and mass layoffs. Skilled professionals had to be retrained and sought employment elsewhere. This means that certain sectors, especially live music, are experiencing severe staff shortages.

Third, rising energy costs are expected to hit businesses hard. especially small venues It suffered anyway and now faces mounting uncertainty. The government has confirmed that the Energy Bill Relief Scheme will cap wholesale energy prices for all businesses for one year. half a year From October 1st.

There are big concerns around UK cost of living crisis, food prices, energy prices, rents and mortgage rates have risen sharply, and so has inflation. People will be forced to cut their spending significantly across the board, with spending on entertainment being particularly affected.

The ripple effect here is most visible in the live music business, especially in grassroots venues. Music Venue Trust For several years.

“The UK has a music industry that is the envy of the world, a talent pipeline that continues to produce world-class stars and highly skilled professionals,” said Jamie Jock-Goodwin. It is critical that we work with you to protect and nurture the music industry from the economic turmoil we are facing, so that we can weather the pandemic and emerge even stronger than before the pandemic. jobs and investments can be generated.”